Gone but Not Forgotten
by My Little Big Blue Box
Summary: JKR forgot to mention that when he died, Fred left behind a pregnant fiancé. Four years later Estella Jones is working part time at the Department of Mysteries, specifically on the Veil. Has she found a way to bring him back? Will she do it? R
1. Prologue

**Gone but Not Forgotten**

_Prologue_

_Late March 1998_

Looking up at the huge building in front of her, Estella Jones couldn't help but be proud of all her boyfriend and his twin had achieved in the two years since their famous 'escape' from Hogwarts. It stood out considerably in the dim and dark alley that had once upon a time been bustling with shoppers.

Having known them ever since they sat next to her at the Gryffindor table, following their sorting, the brunette had always suspected they would never tame the prankster's within them, showcasing it to all, and proving her right when they went as far as to open the joke shop in front of her.

Not wanting to stand outside the shop for too long and wanting to return to the warmth and safety of the flat she lived in with Fred and George, Estella wasted no more time and jogged inside, just as a rumble sounded in the sky.

Roving her green eyes quickly over the store, she didn't see any spritely red hair, but instead saw Verity, the shop assistant, a fringe of her short blonde hair hiding her eyes as she appeared to be doing some stock taking, "Hey Verity, are the boys in the back?"

The girl looked up with a snap of her neck, a show of horror on her face before she sighed with relief, "Don't half know how to scare me, Es, but yeah, they are in the back, packing up anything valuable."

Estella frowned, "Packing up? Whatever for? Are they going somewhere? I'm gonna kill Fred if he's been planning to do a runner without telling me."

Verity sighed again, agitated, "Listen, you're better off hearing it from them. It's not some big plan but what they are doing is for the best, for everyone," And the girl moved away into another aisle.

Running down to the back of the shop, which she now noticed was totally void of customers, Estella barged into the store room to find George rearranging some boxes full of good knows what.

"George, what's happened and why is Verity telling me you're 'packing up anything valuable'? Where's Fred?" George's shoulders were uncharacteristically hunched over as he picked up one of the cardboard boxes and made to exit.

"You'd better come upstairs; you need to pack as well. Fred, you and I are off to Muriel's for a while, I'll explain upstairs," Estella huffed as she followed him up the spiral staircase to the purple wooden door that was the flat's front door.

Once it was closed, and Estella knew that any shouting she did wouldn't be heard, she rounded on the one eared twin with steely eyes, "What the hell is going on?"

George calmly placed the cardboard box into a trunk, where it seemed to disappear through a hole in the bottom and through the floor but Estella, as a witch, knew it was just an enlargement charm, before he turned and faced the aggravated women in front of him, "We need to leave, its not safe for us," was his answer before looking over his shoulder towards a hallway that led to the two bedrooms, "Fred, Estella's home," As soon as it was announced Fred appeared, bounding over to the girl and planting a quick kiss on her lips.

"Hiya, babe. Look, I put a few of your t-shirts, jeans and stuff into a trunk in the bedroom, your gonna need to check everything that you'll want is there before we go, but be quick 'cause we are running on a really tight schedule," and he was gone again, heading at speed to the bedroom he shared with Estella.

Following him, she called after him, "I will, when you explain why we are leaving."

As he grabbed pictures and pieces of, while not expensive but special, ornaments from the shelves, he replied, "We, us and mum, dad and Ginny, need to go into hiding," Estella's eyes widened at this.

"But-but why? What's happened?"

"It's a long story but Ron's 'allegiance' with Harry has been discovered by the Ministry. He's fine, but we won't be if we stick around. We're all going to Muriel's, she's agreed to help and put us up for as long as necessary, albeit grudgingly but family is family," As soon as Fred mentioned the Ministry, Estella headed to her wardrobe, grabbing almost all the clothes that Fred had left inside and shoved them into the bursting trunk.

"What about Verity? Why is she still here?" She asked as she packed, grabbing a picture frame of her, Fred, George and Angelina Johnson at a Quidditch Match almost two summers ago.

"She's just making a list of the stock we have so we can just check it over when we get back; if we get back, but she'll leave as soon as we have, we'll tell her before apparating to Muriel's," Estella nodded and continued to pack in silence, going over the recent news in her mind.

_I only went to Flourish and Blotts to see if they had the book I wanted. How long was I gone? _She thought as she glanced at the clock before realising she must have been gone a couple of hours, plenty for such quick developments, _Then again, anything seems to be possible at the moment_.

Clicking her trunk shut, she heaved it onto the floor and onto its wheels, when a hand on her shoulder turned her around and pulled her into a big bear hug.

"It's gonna be alright, you know? Us Weasleys are stronger than we look. Most of us are as fiery as our hair, even if we hide it well. Except for Ginny, but she's never been subtle with her temper," Fred's chin bobbed against her head as he spoke, and Estella chuckled lightly when he mentioned the hair of the Weasleys.

After a moment, she pulled back, her hands still on Fred's sides and his on her shoulders, "Are you sure you'll want me with you? I'm not a Weasley and I'll be taking up space that you and your family need more. I can go to my mum's in Spain if I have to, you don't have to worry about me. I can look after myself while you look after you're Mum and Dad and your brothers and sister."

Fred gaped at her, and then frowned, "I'm not leaving you; Never. I love you and you're as much of a part of the family as Hermione and Harry are as far as I'm concerned, which means your coming with us, and I'm not letting you out of my sight, got it?" She could see the smile in his faux threat and nodded before hugging him again and briefly kissing him.

George called through a second later, "Verity's gone and I'm ready when you are."

They gathered quickly in the living area again and Fred, with an arm around Estella, said to George, "Have you got everything, Forge? Nothing left that could get us in trouble?"

"All packed and ready to go, Gred. See you in a few," And he, and his trunk, disappeared with a light crack.

"Hold on," And with a sharp tug, Fred and Estella were spinning Estella's grip tight on Fred's robes and her trunk.

A second later and they were faced with Muriel, Mr and Mrs Weasley, Ginny and a freshly landed George.

"Ah, Fred, dear, thank goodness you're safe!" Mrs Weasley exclaimed, thrusting her arms around her son.

"Estella, how are you, dear?" A much calmer Mr Weasley greeted, wrapping one arm over Estella's shoulders.

"I'm good, Mr Weasley, and you, in spite of every?" She smiled sympathetically at the man whose stress levels were a lot higher than anyone was used to.

"Been better, but worse things can happen, as long as everyone is safe is all that matters."

"Yes, yes, Arthur's, right," Mrs Weasley gushed as she hugged Estella just as tightly as she had her sons, before allowing her to breath normally again, "Now, take a seat, I'll bring you some tea, come on Ginny, you can help," Ginny, with a quick hello to the new arrivals, grudgingly followed, leaving the three to settle on a small couch, Estella squashed in the middle, with Muriel sat in an armchair with narrowed eyes.

"So, are you two still fawning with the idea of running a daft little joke shop?" She pointed at each twin.

The pair grinned, "Not fawning Muriel. We actually have one," George said.

"Yeah, and it's not little. Hard to miss, in fact," Fred added.

A groan of disappointment escaped the older woman as she laid eyes on Estella, "And you, girl, you're happy watching Frederick waste money on a silly little business, are you? What about your future? Don't you want him to be able to take care of you?"

And this conversation continued for about an hour, with Muriel gushing her total disdain over the Twins choice of occupation and Estella's lack of disdain seemed to anger her further. Estella was only grateful when Arthur, Molly and Ginny finally returned and Molly showed them to, first George's room at the end of a hallway, and then opposite to Fred and Estella's room.

"Now, I know they aren't very big but-" Molly was interrupted when Muriel's voice erupted from downstairs.

"Just be grateful I didn't make the three of you share!"

They all laughed at this though the entire situation was anything but laughable.

The rest of the day was fairly quiet, and quick, as they all gathered they're bearings, getting used to all being squashed together, which was easier for some than others. The night fell and after some supper, Estella excused herself to the back garden, a large open space, that similar to the Burrow, seemingly ran for miles.

With her arms tucked around herself to fight the cold, Estella breathed in the fresh air, and not for the first time, noted how it seemed to be changing with the times, tainted by the bad things that surrounded everyone.

She tensed slightly for a second when a set of long arms circled her from behind and Fred's chin rested on her shoulder after placing a soft kiss on the spot just below her ear.

Relaxing into him and taking in his sweet, grassy scent, Estella wondered how often she'd be able to do this as times got more dangerous and unpredictable.

"I can almost hear the cogs turning in you're head, love," Fred mumbled quietly.

"Only almost?" She met him in a sideways glance, and was glad that despite having to give up his shop and his home, he still had the twinkle in his eyes that had made her fall in love with him.

"What's up? You're not still thinking you shouldn't be here, are you? 'Cause you aren't leaving. I won't let you," He pouted comically and to emphasis his point he squeezed around her middle, holding her tight to him.

"How could I ever even think about leaving your pretty little face behind?" She cooed like he was a five year old, pinching his cheek lightly.

Affronted, Fred spoke matter-of-factly, "I'll have you know, I'm not 'pretty' as you say, but rather, handsome, fetching even," He stood straight, keeping his arms around her, and jutted his chin out with a smug look.

"Ha!" She called out, sarcastically.

He seemed to think for a moment before replying, "What? Wouldn't you prefer a handsome fiancé to a pretty one?" Estella started at the word 'fiancé'.

"What are you ta-" When he reached behind him and into his pocket only to produce a ring box in front of her, one arm still holding her to him, she gasped, "Are you-?"

"Proposing? Yes, love," And he flicked open the box to show a total dazzler in Estella's eyes. It was gold, with a fairly large but modest square cut diamond in the middle and a blue tear drop pointing away from the diamond, one on each side.

"Oh my..." Fred moved so he was in front of her before kneeling on one knee.

"I've been carrying this around for weeks. I did plan to whisk you away and be more extravagant but it was just too good an opportunity and now seemed as go-"

"Yes," She whispered over his speech, momentarily chastising herself for interrupting him and his show of affection.

"What? Did you just say...?"

"Yes, I said yes!" She squealed with joy, grabbing him by the lapels of waistcoat and kissing him with so much force, they both tumbled into the grass.

Regaining his thought process, Fred pulled away to see Estella was straddling his hips, desire warped in her green eyes. He sat up and Estella shifted to his lap as he pulled her left hand out right in front of them and slipped the ring onto the right finger.

"It's perfect," She murmured, somewhat to herself.

"No," And with a hand on each cheek, he added, "You're perfect," And kissed her, softly and deeply.

And for now, Estella thought as she and Fred crept through the house to they're new bedroom; everything was right in the world.

**A.N. So this is an idea I've been toying with for a while after a dream I had (I know, I must be obsessed if Harry Potter and co. feature in my dreams... and what? :P)**

**I hope this is an okay start... I really want this story to work and if I get enough encouragement from you lovely reviewers *hint hint* then I may continue it. I have a few chapters written already so, it's up to you lot now :D**

**Happy Reading,**

**Jessica! **


	2. One

**Gone but Not Forgotten**

_Chapter 1_

_Late May 1998_

Estella watched as the mahogany casket lowered into the ground, a silver plaque near the top, in the middle, scribed _'Fredrick Gideon Weasley, 1__st__ April 1978 – 2__nd__ May 1998, Son, Brother, Lover, Hero and Prankster.' _

Looking around her at the many faces that had come to pay their respects, she was happy to see that he had made such an impact on so many lives. To her left was his silent twin, shadows under his eyes as a tear escaped just one, and she outstretched her nearest hand and slipped it into his without a word, looking back at the box in front of them.

One by one the family, Molly, Arthur, Bill, Charlie, Percy, George, Ron, and Ginny threw a handful of mud on to the coffin, obscuring the plaque, slowly hiding him from the world. Estella followed suit along with Fleur, Bill's wife, and then Harry and Hermione both as much a part of the family as any of the children Molly and Arthur had had.

The service came to a close then and Estella noticed that they all left, slowly, sparsely towards the nearby Burrow, in the end, leaving just her and George, still hands clasped, silently sobbing in one another's company.

Thinking back to the beginning of the day, Estella had found George that morning, sat in the living room, where the previous day Fred and his casket had been brought to before the funeral, ready to be buried, and with the lid off, George had been sat, guarding him, somewhat, and talking to him as if he would talk back.

After the battle, they'd gone back to Muriel's for a few days before returning to the Burrow. Harry and Hermione had come too and served as great support for Ginny and Ron, while Percy had decided he was most needed by his parents. Charlie went to stay with Bill and Fleur; the two eldest Weasley brothers closest to one another and therefore a better comfort.

Estella had taken Fred's bed in his old room with George and for almost a week, she'd found herself wandering out and into the wild reeds that surrounded the Burrow, a scent around her that was almost the same but not quite Fred, leaving George to himself in the bedroom, only going in to sleep, of which she did very little.

Finding herself sat in the wet grass that surround the open ground, Estella looked up, to see George had stopped crying and was just staring at the open space, a blank look on his face.

Turning back to the casket, she took in a deep breath, calming herself before muttering, "I'm pregnant, you know?"

She didn't look up but knew she'd surprised George, when he looked at her sharp, the sudden movement jerking their still clasped hands, before he too took a deep breath and slowly lowered himself, sitting cross legged beside her, eyes trained ahead, "Did he know?"

George's voice was hoarse, like he hadn't spoken for weeks. He hadn't except for the day before to his still twin.

"No," She replied, "I didn't until last week."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Oh. That's probably what he'd say too." A mirthless laugh escaped them both.

"Does anyone else know?" He asked.

"No. But Hermione's been giving me one of those knowing looks for a couple of days. Not that I can even think to know how she knows... Nope, just a healer at the hospital knows. And now you, obviously," Her eyes had returned to the soil covered plaque by now, and he was looking outwards.

"So, Fred," George chirped after a silent second, choking as he said his twin's name for the first time, before clearing his throat, "you're going to be a dad! That's mental, that is!"

As if waiting for him to appear from behind a nearby tree, they were quiet, giving chance for a reply, and when none came, Estella sniffled louder than she'd intended, "How am I supposed to raise a baby? I'm 19, 20 next month, and I haven't even got a job, not that I'll get one now I'm pregnant. I want to be a good mum not just for the baby but for Fred too but how can I be when I can barely look after myself at the moment," George wrapped an arm around her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her.

"Hey, it's not so bad. You've got me, and everyone else. Everything will work out, you'll see," He continued with words of similar affect for a few minutes, but soon he was crying again too, something he didn't seem able to control of late.

"I'm sorry, George," She sat up after a minute or two of crying, "I don't know what came over me, I don't mean to plonk all this on you. I don't want to make you're mind as crazy as mine is at the moment. You don't have to worry about me, I'll sort myself out," She fished in her purse for some tissue for her tears.

"No apologizing, it's normal to be scared. Especially at a time like this. I'm petrified, you know? About everything. How am I supposed to live on my own, without my twin, when living with him and around him my whole life is all I've ever known? It's absurd and cruel, how he's been ripped away from me, and I don't quite know how I'm going to survive the rest of my life. Half of me has gone and it's never coming back. And I don't want to mess up either, for him," He sniffled too then and gratefully took a second tissue from Estella's outstretched hand.

"I'm sorry, I haven't been around, you know, disappearing instead of trying to comfort you, and I just didn't know what to do. Fred was always what connected me to you and your family. Now he's g- well you know the rest. I just don't want you to think I'm leaving you to suffer alone," In response, George sent her a woeful smile.

"It's alright, I needed a chance to get my head around it, anyway, not that I have, I don't think I ever will," He paused, and as an afterthought added, "And I wouldn't have been able to think with you _waddling_ around me, anyway, would I?"

Estella shoved him in offense, playing along, "I am not waddling! Not yet anyway," A bark like laugh left him, "That's more like it..." She smiled at him laughing, as empty as it sounded but it was a start.

"It's never gonna be the same though is it...?" He grimaced, unable to continue with a joking pretence.

She sighed, "No... And it won't be anywhere near the way it was for a long time either."

A sound echoed from her stomach and Estella blushed, remembering she foolishly hadn't eaten that morning, going a red that could match any Weasley when she saw the vague amusement on George's face, "Hungry? Mum's set up a feast inside; you've got plenty to choose from."

"I'm sure. Once she finds out I'm pregnant, she's going to be force feeding me twenty-four-seven," She frowned, imagining plate upon plate of food she won't be able to eat because she was too full.

"You've got that right. Why don't you go inside? I'll be in myself in a few minutes," She nodded and stood, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't think that now he's in there," She pointed to the grave, "means you have to suddenly smile again. We all know it's going to take you a long time to get over it, you don't have to rush," And with that she left, slowly strolling back to the Burrow.

She could see Molly, even as far away as she was, quickly turning away from the window, trying to hide that she'd been watching the two, not that Estella minded, she was allowed to be curious.

Stepping inside, she could see it was mostly family now; Ron, Ginny, Hermione and Harry in one corner, Arthur with Charlie, Bill and Fleur in another, Percy at the table talking to his Mother who was absently wiping down the kitchen surface, all with a firewhiskey either in hand or nearby.

Making her way to a side table in the living room, where a plate of Fred's favourite shortbread sat, Estella pondered on what was to come, as she ventured into the future, a young mum left to fend for herself.

_**FrederickWeasley**_

_August 1998_

"You're mum's still making sure I eat my own weight in food, each and every meal time, of course," Estella said as she moved around the grave, cutting away at any weeds, making the most of the summer, "Harry said to me the other day that he was missing Molly's cooking, but then he would with only himself, Kreacher and Ron as options for cooks. Although I suppose they could ask Hermione... when she's not buried in seventh year material that is. She's going back to complete her NEWT's, did I tell you? Harry and Ron seem quite happy settling at Grimmauld Place and starting training as Aurors instead of going back," She bent down and pointed her wand to the foot of the grave and with a flick a bouquet of orange carnations appeared.

"The Healer said I'm getting big considering how far along I am, so I might struggle when she comes. If she's a she. I gave her a funny look; like I'm not gonna struggle anyway? I'm giving birth remember! Silly old witch. She tried having a go when I said that I'm keeping active by helping out George and Verity at the store and doing it without magic, 'You should be taking it easy, you do realise your a witch and have a wand. You don't know what damage you're doing to the baby.' Actually, yes I do know I am a witch and yes I do know I have a wand, but I thought I was pregnant, not lazy, is that right? I never knew lifting a box of Sugar Quills could do anyone any harm, pregnant or not."

"Or maybe she's been in the shop herself and seen the state you make when you decide to fill shelves. Right ruddy state, it is!" Estella started at the intrusion and looked up to see George stood behind the grave, a look of amusement on his features.

"Oh George, you surprised me!" She smiled, "And your shop has never looked any better since I got my hands on it and I dare you to say otherwise," She pointed her wand at him in jest, a smirk gracing her lips.

He held his hands up in mock surrender and whimpered, "Alright, I give in! But only because your hexes are almost as bad as Ginny's..." She gave him a look, "And maybe you haven't been doing too bad of a job at the shop."

"That's better... a hand, please," He stretched out and once her hand was in his, he heaved her up to a standing position, "Thanks. What do you think?" She gestured to the cut grass, fresh flowers and weed-less ground surrounding Fred's grave.

He looked around and nodded in approval, "Nice job. It's needed a going over for a few weeks."

"I know. I've been meaning to do it but your mum's been insisting I sit and rest any time I'm home and when I'm not I'm at the shop so I snuck out like a petulant teenager while your mum was in the attic cleaning. I feel so rebellious!" She giggled for a moment, "Do you want me to leave you to it?"

"No, I actually came to see you, are you done here?"

"Yeah, I think so. Is everything alright?" She turned to the white stone that had been placed at the site a few days after the burial, inscribed with the same words as on the plaque on the coffin, "See you soon, Sweetheart."

"See you in a few days, mate. I've got a few ideas to run by you. I know, first time I've mentioned new products; Ever! But I'm not as thick as you think I am!" George added with a sad chuckle before following Estella on the pathway back to the Burrow.

George was still grieving, they all were, and she knew he experienced good days and bad days, and Estella chose to embrace them both. George was his twin and wouldn't have expected any less from him. Instead she helped where she could and gave him space when necessary. It seemed to work for them both as they tried to keep going with their lives.

"So, Georgie, how are you? Did you manage to persuade Verity that she didn't quite require a pay rise just yet?" The look he gave her told her he had not, "Never mind. I'll have a word with her if you like? Girl to girl?"

"Would you? That might work. She'll probably listen to you," He sighed, relieved.

"I'll try my best. I'm coming in tomorrow, so I'll try then," They approached the house and Estella could almost smell the cooking inside, seeping through the wood of the house.

"Thanks, Es, I appreciate it," He smiled as they entered, spotting his mum leaning over a pan of steaming something, "Hi, mum!"

She jumped at the sound of her son's voice, "Oh George, dear! Aren't you supposed to be at work?" The grin on his mothers face defied any chastising she was intending to do as she hugged him and Estella took a seat at the table, a hand subconsciously lying on her enlarged stomach.

"Can't I come and see you without getting in trouble for it?" He replied teasingly, sitting down across from Estella, but facing his mum.

"Well, yes, of course," She acquiesced before adding, "but I'm your mother and I can tell when you have something on your mind. I doubt you came here just for the sake of seeing me, am I right?" She knowingly smiled at her son.

Estella wondered for a moment if she'd be the same with her child, able to read them so easily.

"Alright you got me," He turned to Estella, "I'm actually here to see, Ducky!"

Estella paused for a second, considering the name he'd called her before gasping, picking up a cloth Molly had left on the table and throwing it at George, "I am not waddling! Not yet anyway..." She pouted, feeling like she'd had this argument before, as George chuckled and she could see Molly was trying to give her son a look of disapproval, but failed to hide her amusement, "So are you going to tease me all day or tell me what you wanted?" She smothered a grin, trying to hide that she was amused too.

"Right, I'm sorry, but I couldn't resist," He smirked, "I actually have a proposition for you..."

"Go on," She pushed, leaning forward, intrigued.

"Well, now the store is practically back to its usual pace, and business is steady, as you know from working in there, I wanted to try and get some other things back to the way they were too. As close as they can get anyway," He explained.

"Like what? I thought everything was back to normal now," Estella said.

"Like living arrangements," He breathed heavily, "Now I know it's not the same as before. And I know you've gotten used to living here in the Burrow but I thought maybe you'd like to come back to the flat, and live with me. I mean, you lived there before... everything and honestly, it feels empty without you and Fred about. And while I know Fred won't be coming back, it was still your home, as well as ours, so why don't you come back?" George sounded genuinely nervous and it didn't help Estella.

"You want me to come back to the flat? You realise it's not just me your taking on here, right?" She gestured to her stomach, which seemed to twitch – a foot shaped twitch to be precise - in acknowledgement.

"I know. I want you both around. Fred would kill me if I just forgot about the both of you but it's not just that. _I_ want you there. You weren't a bad room mate, if I remember rightly," He smiled.

"Oh George," Molly intercepted then, "She won't just be a room mate anymore. She has a baby to consider and is a flat above a joke store with all sorts of dangerous things in it the best place for a baby? And your settled here, aren't you dear?" She turned to Estella.

Estella didn't know what to think. The thought of being back at the flat, back home again, excited her but all the same, Molly had done so much for her and had made her feel so at home.

"Molly, you know how grateful I am for you looking after me and helping me the last few months' right? You know I love you like your my own mother and I wouldn't have been able to cope with everything if it wasn't for you and Arthur," Molly nodded, "But I think I should go back to the flat. It was my home with Fred and George, and if it wasn't for him... you know... I would probably be there already, building a nursery, safeguarding everything so the baby can't get to any rogue potions, and I think it's what Fred would want. Me living where we had our best times," She finished, inwardly grimacing as Molly's face slowly fell.

"Please don't think it means I want less to do with you, or any of the Weasleys. The baby is a Weasley, and you will always be its grandmother whether I'm here or living elsewhere. I will make sure that the baby is proud to be a Weasley and that she – or he – sees you all the time. I promise. Besides, I'd still want to see you too. Not just the baby," A sad smile graced Molly's features as she grasped Estella's hand in hers.

"You would have made a lovely wife for my son, Estella. And if moving back to the flat is what you want, then I will support it. But only if you promise to come back every Sunday for tea with the others!" Estella grinned.

"So, you're moving back into the flat?" George interrupted, looking a little surprised.

"Yes, George, I'm coming back to the flat."

Maybe things were starting to look up in the world.

That evening, Estella sat in her room at the Burrow, thinking. Tomorrow she would be going back to the place that had been hers and Fred's. She'd be back in their old bed and looking at their old walls and remembering all the times she'd shared with him and imagining all the times she could have spent with him if he hadn't died that horrible day. Caressing her stomach, she shut her eyes, ready for sleep, as she thought, _'I'm going to make your Daddy proud, little one. I just wish he was around to see it.'_

**A.N. So that's the first chapter!**

**Thanks, **_**, Bad Wolf Baybe, lolitag3 and**__**fruityloops156,**_** for the reviews on the last chapter, they were much appreciated!**

**Thoughts please?**

**Happy reading and lots of kisses,**

**Jessica!**


	3. Two

**Gone but Not Forgotten**

_Chapter 2_

_15__th__ December 1998_

Through heavy pants of breath and loud ear popping screams, Estella barely remembered that she was giving birth.

It was just approaching the twelve hour mark and Molly, who had been at her side the whole time, had told her she was lucky, with Ginny, she was in labour for nearly twenty four hours.

Now, Estella had only been in labour for four hours at that point and while she wasn't at the peak of labour pains, she had nearly collapsed at the thought of it continuing for another, or more than, 20 hours.

One more gut wrenching cry for help and loudly wishing that Fred would appear at her side, it was over.

For a second her head fell back to the sweat ridden pillow before she remembered, above Molly's cooing and moping of Estella's brow, that she'd had a baby. Her baby.

Her head snapped in the direction the Healers had moved, as a wail of freedom and need filled the room.

"Where is he? I want to see him!" She demanded, sitting upright, and trying her damndest to crane her neck far enough to see over the shoulders of the Healers.

The Healer turned to face her patient, a bundle of blankets in her arms.

"Oh, Estella," She heard Molly gasp in the haze, as the blankets were placed in her anticipating arms, the rosy red cheeks of a baby poking out from beneath.

"_She_," The Healer, much younger than the one Estella had become accustomed to during her pregnancy, said, "is right here. You've got a beautiful baby girl." And she turned away.

Estella had zoned out almost as soon as the bundle was in her arms. She was so small, petite, swamped in the - now she noticed - pastel pink blankets.

She was perfect.

Estella had made her. _Fred_ had made her. _They had made her_.

And she was perfect.

Her eyes still absorbing the child, Estella was amazed when the sticky eyes opened. They were Fred's eyes.

"Oh, Molly," Estella gasped, tears forming.

Molly must have seen them as all she said was, "I know, they are his."

Finally looking up, but only for the shortest of moments, she said, "George. I need to see, George," And that was all.

While they had always been close, friends in school and then living together, Estella and George had formed a sort of bond following Fred's passing. Once she moved back to the flat, he done everything he could to make her comfortable. When she'd asked him one day on why he was being so attentive to her, his answer had been simple, "_It's what he'd want,"_ and they'd left it at that. While he wasn't Fred, Estella was grateful to George because she honestly didn't think that without him, as well as Molly and Arthur, she could have done it.

"Of course," Molly acquiesced with one last look at her Granddaughter, sighing with content and disbelief all the same time.

She exited quietly, the door clicking open and shut behind her.

Making sure the now dozing baby was supported, Estella curiously lifted one hand and gingerly lifted the blanket from where it surrounded her head, revealing a tuft of wispy dark red hair, a wonderful blend of Fred's orange and Estella's brown hair.

"Just right," Estella whispered, almost to herself.

The door clicked again and Estella briefly looked to confirm it was George.

"Hey," She murmured, trying not to disturb the girl.

George, tentatively, walked over to the tired looking woman.

"She's asleep," Seeing his anxiety, she added with a smile that hadn't left her face since the baby was placed in her arms, "Its okay. Don't be nervous," And with that, he took a deep breath and two long strides to her side.

The notion stirred the baby slightly, her eyes flickering, a silver blue poking through before she settled again, snuggling into her mother.

"Bloody hell," George said first, slightly stunned, before shaking his head, "I mean, wow... she's..." He stammered, lost for words.

"I know," Estella quietly giggled, still in shock herself.

For a solid five minutes, the two just watched the child.

They watched her breath, wiggle, blink and occasionally whimper.

Suddenly, as George stroked his pinkie finger over her red, and already lightly freckled, cheek, the baby reached out and gripped his finger as tightly as he good in his miniscule fist.

George staggered for a second, before breaking out into the biggest grin he'd displayed in months.

"You didn't do bad, Es, not bad at all," He mumbled through his grin as he watched his finger being tugged and squeezed.

"Not just me, Fred too," Estella smiled up at the lone twin, finding a twinkle in his eye, again for the first time since that horrible day.

The Healer returned then, a piece of parchment and a quill floating in front of her, poised.

"Now your finally acquainted, do you have a name chosen for the baby?"

Estella nodded distractedly, looking at the little girl again, "Amelia," She paused, "Amelia Grace Weasley."

"Little Amelia," The witch smiled at George and Estella as the quill scribbled with a loud scratch on the parchment, "Perfect."

"Yeah," Estella agreed, "Perfect, she is."

_**FrederickWeasley**_

_2__nd__ May 2002_

All of the Weasley-Potter-Granger-Lupin-Jones clan were gathered in Grimmauld Place, following the annual Remembrance Day service at Hogwarts where all the teachers, students of past, present and future, and those who fought and knew those who had fallen, came together and _remembered,_ as Harry and Headmistress McGonagall and many other highly held influences to the wizarding world made speeches about how life goes on in honour of the ones they had lost.

Estella sat in a side room quietly, Amelia's head in her mother's lap, dozing away, stretched out on the couch.

Just half an hour ago she'd come running in, Teddy, Tonks and Remus' orphaned son and Harry's godson, and Victoire, Bill and Fleur's daughter, born exactly a year after the Battle at Hogwarts, on her tail, screaming and shouting about something or other.

Teddy and Victoire had quickly run out again, aiming for the kitchen, looking for Harry and Fleur probably, to show whatever it was they'd found, but Amy, after a struggle, had crawled onto her mothers lap in anticipation, only to yawn as soon as she got there. Five minutes later, she was fast asleep.

Estella was perfectly comfortable away from the crowd.

She understood people wanted to celebrate and she joined in but she also wanted time to reflect and think to herself. Just some peaceful moments on this specific day to remember how everything had reached a climax just four years previous and how she had lost the one and only man ever to make her so happy she'd previously thought she'd explode with emotion. Now she just wished she could have _that_ sense of feeling again.

She barely had anytime to just sit and think nowadays. She was either working in the shop, or caring for Amy, or cooking or sleeping. Either that or working at the Ministry.

Last year, Hermione had come to her with a request. After graduating, Hermione had started a job in the Department of Mysteries, where along with Harry and Ron and Kingsley and so many others, she worked to reform the Ministry.

She'd been doing a wonderful job until it came to investigations into and about the Veil.

The Veil was always being looked into but Hermione had been requested to try and find a way, as the smartest witch of their generation, to bring people back; People who had fallen through.

Immediately she had taken up the job. However, she'd only taken it, when Estella had agreed to work there too.

Whilst not as smart as Hermione, she wasn't too far off and Hermione had known this, insisting that someone of Estella's calibre should be working on things like this rather than spending all day filling shelves in a shop. George had shot her a dirty look at that. What was wrong with his shop? She apologized quickly, of course but not before George had tried to trick her into eating a Ton-Tongue Toffee in compensation.

Estella had been wary; could she commit to such a time consuming job?

Hermione had said the Ministry would be willing to let her work flexibly, and admitting she was intrigued by the Veil and what was behind it, Estella had agreed.

It was going well and Estella enjoyed her job, as well as working with Hermione, the only down side being that everything was _confidential_.

No matter what she did, she couldn't talk about anything to do with the research, to anyone unless it was to Hermione or the Head of Department.

Shaking her head and thinking back on the current day, Estella's eyes grazed over the walls, now bright and airy, covering the old, dark and damn tapestry that was once there, thanks to Ginny and Hermione, who had insisted upon renovating the place after Harry, Ron and Hermione moved in, following the war.

Hermione and Ron had since moved to their own place in the next village from Ottery St. Catchpole; near enough to the Burrow but far enough for some privacy and Ginny had moved in just after she had graduated, much to Harry's delight and Teddy practically lived there too, spending every Thursday through to Sunday sleeping over.

Estella smiled at the pictures on the mantel piece. Ginny's influence was clear, with pictures of Molly and Arthur, and another of her brothers huddled together. Harry, Teddy and Ginny were visible as well as Harry's favourite picture of his parents dancing in a park. Nearby was a picture of Harry, Ron and Hermione, in the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade, smiling and clinking jugs of butterbeer together. Lastly was one of Harry and Ginny on their wedding day, from the summer just past.

All the pictures were filled with smiles and grins and laughs and Estella noted how easily, in just one moment, it could seem that all was right in the world. All was calm.

It seemed that everyone who should be there was there. Everyone they'd lost was alive. No battles had been fought and no evil wizard had tried to take over, destroying families and lives with a swift and remorseless flick of his wand.

That's what those pictures showed.

Then reality fell around everyone and people were gone. Important people had been taken away and there wasn't a way to bring them back.

Estella sniffled, trying not to disturb her sleeping daughter as she did. Estella couldn't imagine a world without her now. She had become her everything. Everything she did was to benefit her and help her. She smiled as the girl wriggled and settled again.

"Hey," A hushed voice followed a knock on the door frame and Hermione appeared, "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you jump, do you mind if I have a word?" She looked anxious.

"Yeah sure, just have to do it quietly, she's had a long day," Hermione gleamed at the sight of her niece snoozing away.

She moved past the couch to an armchair and it was then Estella noticed the two mugs Hermione was holding, "I brought you a cup of tea," She passed one to Estella and she took it gratefully.

"Thanks. It's so much better than firewhiskey," They chuckled.

"Tell me about it. I can't stand that stuff, I don't know how Ron does it," She grimaced as she relaxed into the chair, getting comfortable and curling her legs under herself, a glint in her eye at the mention of her fiancé.

"Yeah, Fred was the same. George has gallons of the stuff at the flat. Not that he's ever there to drink it, he's always at Angelina's stealing hers instead," She smiled, "It must be in the Weasley genes. Ginny can drink it as much as her brothers."

"Oh Merlin," Hermione joked, "It's Harry, I feel sorry for!"

A moment's laughter later and Estella said, "So, what is it you wanted to talk about?"

"Work," Hermione was all of a sudden very serious, "There have been some developments."

"Right," She took a sip of her tea, "Is there a problem? I thought we were pretty close. I was going ask Harry if I could have a look in the old Black Family Library upstairs. There has to be books in there that are as ancient as the Ministry somewhere."

"You may not need to. I've spoken to Harry," Hermione sighed as Estella's eyes widened.

"What? You know your not supposed to say anything to anyone, you know what the Ministry are like."

"I know I do. But I had to speak to him first. Harry had to know what was going on. Since we are getting so close to being able to close the case, I didn't want to try to bring a certain Marauder back without Harry's word first. For all we know, he might not have wanted to bring him back. It's been a long time since he died after all and it took Harry a long time to deal with Sirius' death," She said empathetically.

Estella sighed too, "I suppose so. So what did you say to him?"

"I asked him how he would feel if the opportunity arouse for Sirius to be brought back from the Veil. I asked if he would want him to be brought back," Hermione replayed.

"And?" Estella pushed.

"Well, he said, while he would love to bring Sirius back and to forge a proper relationship with him, he would rather that we left him where he was."

"Really?" Estella raised an eyebrow and gaped at Hermione.

"Yes. Listen, what I'm going to tell you can't leave you but when Harry went into the Forest to... you know..." Estella nodded, uncomfortable, "He saw something... someone... multiple someone's."

"Oh my Merlin..." Estella breathed, "Who?"

"His parents, Remus... and Sirius."

Estella's jaw dropped again, "But... how? I mean... _how_?" She gasped.

"It doesn't matter," Hermione said quickly, "The point being, Harry said, when he saw Sirius, he was revived to the person he imagined he was before Azkaban and he looked so happy to be back with James and Lily, and Remus too. He said that if we brought him back, we'd be taking him away from something he'd been wanting for a long time and Harry wasn't prepared to let that happen. So I said we'd let it go. We wouldn't try to summon him," Hermione finished, a sad look of defeat on her face.

Thinking for a minute, Estella nodded, "Okay. I understand. But I still intend to continue researching," She gave Hermione a look when she went to interrupt, "Hermione, this is a big thing. We have the most information and knowledge on this thing than has ever been found. I told you when we started how fascinated I was by it and I still am. While we might not be bringing anyone back, I still want to learn about it. It's too important to throw it away, not now."

Hermione smiled at Estella's dedication, and acquiesced that continuing with the work was the right thing to do.

"...and I'd hate to leave a job unfinished," They laughed knowing this all too well.

"I'll speak to Harry about invading the library tomorrow. You don't think he'll mind do you?"

"Oh, no, it'll be fine. I think Ginny will be happy that it's finally getting some use. Although, I don't know what she's complaining about though, I'm in there all the time trying to find a good novel and I succeed every time," She grinned.

Shuffling in her lap, Amy suddenly awoke, opening weary eyes, "Mummy..." She groaned.

"Hello, sleepy head..."

"Hi, Amy," Hermione chirped, grinning at the three year old.

Startled by her aunt, Amy looked up and drowsily waved at her, "'Mione."

Amelia's stomached rumbled then and she looked to her mother again, "I'm hungry, mummy," She frowned, sitting up beside her mother.

"Shall we go and see what Gran and Pops are doing? See if there is any food knocking about?" Amelia nodded, enthused by the thought of food.

"I heard Teddy and Victoire mumbling about some Treacle Tart earlier," Hermione offered, standing and taking the now empty mugs in hand, "Come on," She held out a hand to Amy, which she took.

"Let's go eat," Estella smiled, as she too stood and followed them to the jam packed kitchen.

**A.N. And there is another chapter.**

**So we are starting to get into the main plot. Slowly but surely we are getting there. :D**

**Just to let you know, chapters won't always have two different dates like this and the previous chapter, it's just the way these have worked out.**

**Thoughts please? Treacle tart will be your thank you gift! :D**

**Happy Reading,**

**Jessica!**


	4. Three

**Gone but Not Forgotten**

_Chapter 3_

The next day, Estella did as she had said and called Harry through the Floo network. After getting back to the flat the night before, Estella had thought long and hard about the Veil.

Here, in her grasp, she had this thing that connected her to the world of the dead.

She hadn't told Hermione, but she had stood in the Death Chamber where it was stationary and had watched and listened to it for hours at a time. She listened as whispers, loud whispers, tried to fight their way through and make themselves heard.

She'd taken slow and tentative steps towards it getting closer and closer everytime she went inside the Chamber.

She'd called out names of those that she knew who had passed to try and see if what she was hearing was really there, really what she thought she was hearing. Really the voices of people she'd once known.

She'd called on Sirius and a husky whisper had intensified in response. It lasted for a few seconds before it gave up hoping for a response from girl from the world of the living.

She'd paused and thought before she cautiously called on a second person. She didn't know if it would work, since the person hadn't died by falling through the Veil but it was worth a try. She called on Nymphadora Tonks. Much slower than Sirius' had, a second response came. A clumsy sounding tinkle of a whisper responded, much lighter and softer than Sirius' had sounded.

Testing her luck, she'd called on Professor Dumbledore and like Tonks it took a moment but she could have screamed with delight when the happy and powerful influx of a whisper surged to the front before returning to its place at the centre of the world of the dead.

She hadn't dared call for the one person she really wanted to hear.

She hadn't dared hope for a response when she could be brought back to earth with a thump when, just like everyday she lived, he wasn't there.

Estella really wished they could try to bring someone back, but not many had actually fallen through the Veil in the first place and those that had had done so decades or even centuries ago, so much older in the Veil's history than Sirius' passing had been and bringing back someone that had been dead for so long was just not a good idea.

They'd found a short piece of material from a man who had claimed that long exposure to death and its confines means the individual would become somewhat 'out of time' with the real world and wouldn't be able to adjust as well as maybe Sirius who had only been gone a short number of years.

This made perfect sense to Estella, who after spending years in Hogwarts amongst the presence of ghosts and ghouls, had noticed that they never changed and never modernised, even though they were in the contact with the always changing and evolving world of the living. They always stayed in the past.

Estella had left Amelia in the care of her grandparents for the afternoon as she floo'd back to Grimmauld Place.

Harry had quickly agreed when Estella had asked to venture into the Black Library for reasons she couldn't specify. He said Ginny would be home so she could just pop in when it was necessary.

Exiting the Floo and dusting herself off, Estella found herself back in the same room she'd spent much of the previous day and shouted out, "Ginny! Where are you? It's me, Es!"

Footsteps coming down the stairs followed and Ginny appeared in the doorway almost immediately, a little pink in the face.

"Hi!" She grinned a little too widely, "Come on through, I'll make us a brew," And she rushed off into the kitchen.

"Oh, it's alright Gin, I only came to have a quick look in the-" She was interrupted as she sat at the long kitchen table, by an amusingly but uncharacteristically flustered Ginny.

"The Library, yes I know, Harry told me but one cup of tea can't do any harm, it's been a while since we caught up with one another. What did you think of the service yesterday?" Ginny's eyes were perpetually focused on the two ready and waiting mugs as she spoke.

"It was lovely, as always. Amy was more intrigued by the enchanted ceiling than anything Kingsley Shacklebolt had to say though," She heard Ginny titter quietly, still with her back to her visitor, "Are you alright, Ginny?"

The younger of the two witches quickly pivoted on her heel, having to catch herself with a nearby chair, the same forced smile on her face, "Me? I'm fine! Why wouldn't I be? Where is Amy anyway, I was looking forward to seeing her again, I didn't get to spend much time with her yesterday," She turned back to the kitchen tops as the kettle whistled at peak heat.

"She's at your mum's being fussed over," She paused, "Are you sure your alright?" You seem a bit-" Ginny turned again, a look of defiance in her eyes.

"I'm fine, honestly, I was just a little sick this morning and I never take to being ill well, okay?"

Estella watched her for a few seconds. She couldn't be sure but she could swear there was something else.

She inwardly smirked and nodded, "If you insist."

"Thank you," She replied stiffly, going back to the tea.

"So, does Harry know? That you are sick, I mean?" From where she was sat, Estella thought she could see a smile, a real one, forcing its way through on Ginny's face.

"Of course," She sat at the table, passing a steaming cup to Estella and summoning a bottle of milk from the fridge, "Of course he knows," She sent Estella a look which confirmed her suspicions, "He's... pleasantly surprised, I never get sick after all."

Estella sniggered, "I should think not!"

Ginny laughed before asking timidly, "Will the sickness last long?"

"No, I only had it for two months or so," Ginny half sighed with relief and grimaced at the same time.

"Right," She responded, distractedly taking a gulp of her tea.

"Anyway, the library..." Estella started.

"Oh yes, what was it you wanted to try and find up there? Harry said you were rather vague when he spoke to you."

"Its Ministry business," She answered simply.

Ginny gaped at her, "And?"

"That's it. I'm researching something at work and I need to get as much material as possible and I haven't ransacked the Black Library before. It's the only place I can think of that will have material almost as old, if not old_er_ than the Ministry itself. I hope you don't mind me snooping around up there," She smiled gratefully.

"Oh, no," Ginny replied, "It's not a problem. But you may need a mask to stop you choking on all the dust. The place is covered in it. Oh, and since we finally managed to un-stick her, Walburga has taken up residence in there too. Just a warning," They both cringed and dramatically sighed.

"Ah, Sirius' mother, I wondered what you did with her. She was awful during the meetings with the Order, she absolutely hated us! _'Blood traitors and mudbloods in the Noble House of Black? DESPICABLE!' _That terrible screeching she made!" Ginny laughed at her impressions of the abominable women, "Which reminds me, where's Kreacher?" She scouted the room for any sight of the house elf, who suddenly appeared at Ginny's side with a pop.

"Kreacher is here to serve, what does Mistress require?" He croaked with grudging submission.

"Oh, sorry Kreacher, we were just talking, we didn't mean to call you up here. You can go back to your quarters," Ginny smiled politely at the elf.

He bowed, "Yes, mistress," And he popped away again, but not before the girls were sure they heard, _'Bloody blood traitors,' _and they just guffawed in response.

"Anyway," Estella intercepted after a moment's contemplation, "I'd better get up there. I said I'd be back at the Burrow by three to pick up Amelia and I want to take a quick look at everything I find before I do. I'll just head up there if that's okay?" She finished her tea and headed to the door.

"Oh sure, take as long and as many books as you want. The more you take, the less I have to worry about," She smiled.

"Then I will take as many as my puny little arms can carry," She assured, heading to the bottom of the stairs.

"Oh Es?" Ginny called before she hit the bottom step.

"Yeah?"

Ginny blushed, "You'll keep my pregnancy to yourself, right?"

"Pregnant? I thought you were sick?" And she winked knowingly at the redhead.

"Thanks," She nodded gratefully.

"No problem," And Estella quickly dived upstairs, knowing exactly where she was going.

_**FrederickWeasley**_

Opening the door at the utmost top of the stairs, she'd lost count of how many stories high, Estella was met by a cloud of dust falling from the disturbed door and its frame.

She coughed and from some distant corner she heard the scratchy tones of Walburga Black, "Oh, the horrid blood traitors are back, a _disgrace_ to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black."

Estella just shrugged and ignored her, muttering, "I wasn't too far off then," In reference to her impression downstairs.

Looking around, Estella headed to the deepest and darkest corner of the room and with a silent wish of luck she helped herself to every book she could find that she thought could have anything to do with the Veil and what it was hiding behind it.

_**FrederickWeasley**_

An hour, twenty-four books, a ton of dust and an Enlargement Charm to her bag later, and Estella was back at home, sourcing through every bit of material she had been able to find in the library.

At about four o'clock, two hours after she started reading, the Floo came to life and Molly's head appeared in the flames.

"Estella? Estella, dear, are you there? Her cheery voice echoed into the flat.

"Oh Molly, hi, is everything okay? Amelia is okay?" Estella knelt down by the hearth.

"Yes, yes, she's absolutely fine, spritely in fact. But she is wondering where you are. You said you'd be here an hour ago," Estella gasped, looking at her watch and indeed noticing she was an hour late.

"Oh Merlin, Molly, I'm so sorry, I've just gotten so caught up in the books I managed to find at Ginny's and-"

Molly's chuckles interrupted her, "Now, now dear, it's not a worry. I know how dedicated you are to your work at the Ministry, whatever it may be that you are doing. Why don't you finish whatever you are researching and come here to dinner tonight, bring George too. The both of you work so hard, I'm surprised you ever get a good meal in you, no matter what George says about the Leaky Cauldron being a great source for food. It's been too long since you were last here!"

Estella giggled, "Molly, we had dinner on Sunday."

"Exactly, too long," Molly insisted, "I'll see you in an hour," and before Estella could argue, she was gone.

"I'd better go and tell George then," She sighed, eyeing her pile of books before dashing out of the flat and into the shop.

_**FrederickWeasley**_

All throughout dinner, which was as always amazing with Molly's cooking, Estella couldn't stop thinking about her books. She just had this brilliant feeling about what she'd find amongst the pages and pages of information and _history_ that she'd taken from the library.

On returning from the flat through the Floo, Amelia's hand tight in her mothers and George following shortly behind, Estella's eyes fell straight onto the disarray of books she'd abandoned earlier.

"Bloody hell, you well and truly ransacked Ginny and Harry's, didn't you?" George chuckled, dusting himself off and heading to the couch, where he inspected a couple of the books and their titles.

Estella quickly dashed over and took the books out of his prying hands, "And so what if I did? They didn't mind. And no peeking! It's confidential," In between Estella and George talking, Amelia had plonked herself heavily in the armchair near the couch.

Once comfortable, she finally asked, "What does 'confidential' mean?"

Shoving George off the couch, Estella pulled out her wand and motioned for the books to gather themselves in a neat pile by the fire and replied, "It means, Georgie has to keep his big nose out!" She stuck her tongue out childishly as he gaped at her in mock offense.

"I'll have you know, my nose is of adequate size and not 'big' as you so put it," He sat on the arm of the overstuffed chair Amy occupied and turned to her, "Do I have a big nose, Ames?"

Amy looked between her mum and uncle in the hopes of finding the right answer.

Her mum was nodding her head profusely and miming 'yes' with a smirk while George was pouting and shaking his head.

Seeing her plight, George added, "If you say 'no', I'll buy you a cauldron cake next time I take you to Honeydukes in Hogsmeade," Amelia appeared to consider this, before holding her hand out for him to shake.

"Make it two cakes and you've got a deal, Unc," George tapped his chin in consideration, before taking her tiny hand in his and shaking it twice in confirmation.

"Deal, Kiddo!"

"You are turning her into a replica of her father," Estella half smiled and half scoffed at the exchange, "No. No way is she having that much sugar in one sitting."

"Oh, mum," Amelia whined, matching her uncle's earlier pout.

"Yeah, come on, Es. Don't be a spoil sport," George extended his pout and together with Amelia, who looked the spitting image of her dad, Estella couldn't help but cave.

"Alright fine," She conceded before adding, "But you," She pointed at George, "Can deal with her all day while she's on a major sugar rush. That's one nightmare I was hoping not to repeat," Amelia cheered at the prospect of cake.

Meanwhile, George groaned remembering the disaster that was Amy's last sugar rush, "Oh, the poor shop," He muttered, "We'll have to keep her well away from the highly stacked displays, Merlin knows Verity would kill me if she knocked down her pyramid of Skiving Snackboxes again," Estella let out a cackle of laughter at George's despair.

"Nuh-uh. Not _we_, matey! Just _you_!" She added, just for a pinch of salt in his wound, "Now then," She looked at the grinning but weary Amy, "Since I'm allowing you the cake, you won't say no when I say it's time for bed, we were at your Gran and Pop's longer than I thought, it's already past eight, you should be tucked up tight by now," Estella stood and held out her hand which Amelia grudgingly took after sliding off the armchair.

"But mum, I'm," She promptly yawned, "I'm wide awake," George scoffed behind them before he moved into the kitchen, leaving the girls to it.

Estella heaved the tired girl up onto her hip, "No, your not, you've been yawning for about an hour now," She argued as she stepped into her room, which she shared with her young daughter, "Pink or purple PJ's?" She asked as she sat Amelia on the small bed that was at the foot of her own and headed to the chest of drawers that held all of Amy's outfits.

"Pi-Purple!" She decided.

"Alright, let's get you ready for bed," Estella bent down to her daughter's height as she began to help her change.

As she was buttoning the pyjama shirt up, Amy spoke tiredly, "Mum?"

"Yes, darling?" She smiled as she watched her daughter finish the last few buttons all by herself.

"Do you mind that I'm like dad?" Amy sounded unusually timid, but then she always did when she spoke about Fred, knowing the sad look that always crossed her mother's face when he was mentioned - the sad look on lots of peoples face; her mum's, George's, Gran's, Pop's and all her aunts and uncles.

"What do you mean by that?" Estella sat on the foot of her own bed while Amelia legs dangled over the side of hers.

"Well, you said before that I was becoming more like dad. Is it a bad thing?" Estella gasped.

"Sweetheart, it is most definitely not a bad thing. It's a brilliant thing. Your dad was a brilliant man and I'm sure if he was here now he'd have been the best dad to you ever. When I see similarities between you and your dad, I know that I have been given the best little girl in the whole world because your dad was the best guy in the world. I feel so proud when I see you acting like him, and you should too," Estella quickly wiped away a tear.

"I do feel proud. Dad was a hero. That's what George always says," Amy grinned widely at her mother, who did the same back.

"You're a very good girl, you know that, Amy?"

Amy just shrugged and they were quiet for a moment, before she said, "Will I ever get to see him?"

Estella sighed sadly, "I wish you could, love, and if I could make it happen, then I would, but I can't, darling. Magic only goes so far."

Amy nodded, but her eyes twinkled as she remembered something.

She grabbed a button off a bed side table and placed it in the middle of her palm, "Watch," She said simply before she eyed it firmly.

A second or two later and the button floated up from her palm, into mid-air before falling back to her hand.

Estella gaped at her daughter. _Her first bit of magic_. "When did you learn that?"

Amy shrugged again, "Dunno, it just did it a few days ago. And then I thought about what I'd done before it happened and made it do it again," Estella smiled sweetly to the little girl.

_Three years old and already learning magic._

"I'm so proud of you," She ran a hand through her daughters long auburn locks, tucking some behind her ear before taking a deep breath and saying, "Go on, you'd better go and brush your teeth, I'll wait for you in here," Amy nodded and headed to the bathroom.

Once Estella heard the water running, she walked over to her own bedside table where a picture of her and Fred sat, taken just a few days after they moved to Muriel's, her left hand on his chest and her engagement ring glinting in the sun as they laughed at the camera.

"I hope you're proud of her as much as I am Fred. I don't even know if you can see us from where you are, but if you can, I hope you're proud," She whispered to the picture as she watched the laughing couple sway in each others arms.

She put the picture back in its place and lifted her left hand where the engagement ring still sat, four years, and more, after it'd first been placed there.

She twisted it a little in its place, the lampshade light bouncing off its corners.

She'd called it perfect when he'd presented it to her.

She was wrong.

What was perfect was that _he_ had presented it to her. Not the ring. Him. Him being the one to give it to her and putting it there and taking her as his own. Except he never did. They never got to walk down the aisle and claim one another.

Then a thought came to mind.

She was working on an artefact that connected her to the dead. And through all this research she hadn't imagined what would happen if she was able to bring _him _back.

Yes, Fred hadn't died by falling through the Veil but he was dead and he was on the other side of that curtain between the living and dead.

Why hadn't she thought of this before? Had she and ignored it? She'd ignored his whispers when she'd spoken to the Veil. Could she have ignored such a huge, obvious possibility too? Or could she have simply missed it, in all the excitement that she'd be able to bring back Sirius instead, had she just simply missed it, overlooked it?

She didn't know and she could consider no more, as Amy came crawling in, wiping her eyes in tiredness.

She watched Amy climb into bed and grabbed a book to read her to sleep.

_Yes_, she finally thought, _I would bring him back if I could. And I'm going to try my damndest to find out how_.

**A.N. Ahhhh, she's catching on! :D xD**

**I just want to say, in case some were wondering, the reason I added the bit with Ginny and revealing she's pregnant, is because while its not to do with the plot its still apart of the backing story and so I'm gonna include things like pregnancies and events in other characters lives because they happen in conjunction with this plot story and it just seemed to make sense, to me, to do so. **

**I hope you don't mind :). And just so you know, I sort of imagined my own timeline of when kids were born, with the help of what JK supplied and I imagined James was born in about 2003, and in the case of this story it would be January 2003 so she would be pregnant by now :D**

**Anyway, thank you for all the lovely reviews so far and your thoughts are as always appreciated.**

**Happy reading folks,**

**Jessica!**


	5. Four

**Gone but Not Forgotten**

_Chapter 4_

Assured that Amy was fast asleep, Estella crept out of the bedroom to the living area, her mind going a mile a minute as she saw George waiting at the dining table, a pot of coffee ready and waiting.

She silently wandered over to the small round table and sat, gratefully taking a full cup from George and taking a hearty gulp, not without wishing she'd waited a minute for it to cool, and she contemplated the _epiphany_ she had in the bedroom.

Was she being stupid? Reckless, even? Yes, bringing Fred back was all she'd ever wanted and for months after his death all she wished for was for him to walk into the Burrow as if nothing had happened and for them to get on with their lives as though he'd never left but that was a dream and she was living a reality where he had died and no matter how much she'd wished in the past, he wasn't coming back.

Yet, she did have this _thing_ that essentially was a passageway to the dead and if they could find a way to bring back those who had fallen through it, then surely they could bring back others too, even if they hadn't died by passing through the Veil.

George's voice battled through her thought train, and she looked up from the table to see him frantically waving in front of her face trying to get her attention.

"Thank Merlin for that, I thought I was gonna have to make you a permanent resident at Mungo's for minute there," He stifled a laugh, and Estella sent him a weak smile.

"Don't worry, I'm not clinically insane," She looked at him wryly

"Not yet," He smirked, "Although, I've seen you when you're angry, you can be pretty mental when you're mad."

She laughed softly, "Oh, come on, I haven't been thoroughly livid since we were in school!"

"True," He agreed, "But that's only because Fred and I learnt from past mistakes and decided it best not to turn you into a McGonagall incarnate ever again, I still have nightmare about those squids you had swarm us in our sleep."

"You deserved it; you spiked my pumpkin juice with Puking Pastilles for a week. It was only when I saw a purple blob at the bottom of my cup because it hadn't dissolved properly that I realised it was you and I wasn't coming down with some virus! I thought I was as good as dying!"

"Yeah we did deserve it, but it was still funny and Fred had an excuse to look after you and spend time with you. I believe it was following that week that you 'got together'?" He raised an eyebrow at her in gesture.

Estella gaped at him, "We could have got together on our own, you didn't have to incapacitate me for a week," She laughed, "But yes, Fred and I were going out a week later. Sixth year wasn't a bad year."

They were quiet for a few minutes, silently sipping their coffees and contemplating, before George spoke again, "So, are you going to tell me what's on your mind or is it something else about work that you can't tell me?"

Estella levelled her eyes with his again and watched him.

She knew he didn't like that her work was such a secret but if it was important and he needed to know then she would tell him. She'd told him that. It wasn't like he'd be interested in what she'd done up until now. She was working around possibilities and uncertainties and mysteries and George, like Fred, while mysterious themselves, always liked to know the full story and be certain of what they were doing.

That's why they were so good at pranks; they would plan and plan them up to the very last detail and anything that could leave their covers uncertain would be scrapped or fixed, unless of course they wanted to be spotted and credited for the prank. Which to be fair was often.

Still watching him, Estella decided that this was something he needed to know. She couldn't keep something like bringing his twin brother back from the dead a secret. He'd hate her for it.

She took a deep breath and said, "Amy asked me something in the bedroom and I answered as honest as I could but then something clicked in my head and it won't go away."

"Okay," George could sense it was going to be something complicated, "So what did she ask?"

"She asked if she would ever get to see her dad. I told her magic could only do so much but if I could bring him back for her, then I would," She scoffed, "If I knew how, then she wouldn't have had to ask that question. He'd be here already for crying out loud."

"We'd all have brought him back if we could. I'd have done anything to have woken him up again after that battle," George confined, "But we can't."

Estella's eyes narrowed at she watched the steam rise from the stout of the coffee pot, "But what if we could?" She whispered somewhat.

"You know we can't," George said firmly, uncomfortable with the subject matter.

"But what if we could?" Her eyes flashed back to him and an intensity he'd not seen since the days of school, when she'd found a theory in her books or the answer to a difficult Arithmancy problem, appeared.

He leaned forward, his arms crossed on the table, "What are you getting at, Es? Fred's dead and buried, you know that," He ground his teeth.

With a sigh, she too sat forward, "If I tell you what the last year or so of my life has been about at the Ministry, do you promise me that you'll keep it to yourself? You can't tell anyone. Not Angelina, not your parents. No one," She said quickly.

He thought for a second before nodding, "Of course, I told you I would keep it a secret before."

"Okay," Estella closed her eyes, briefly trying to piece the words together so they would make sense to him, "You know I work in the Department of Mysteries, right? With Hermione?"

"Yes," He nodded.

"Well, the reason Hermione asked me to go and work there is because she needed help on a project that they'd set her. For the past year we've been continuing the investigations of-" She paused, wondering if this was really the right thing to do before shaking her head and persisting, "We've been working on the Veil," George took a sharp intake of breath.

"The Veil? You mean the thing that Sirius fell through?"

She nodded momentarily before continuing, "We've been, more specifically, trying to find a way to try and bring back those that have died by passing through it. Sirius was the first for many decades, centuries even and so he was the one we were going to attempt our results on."

When she paused, George pushed, "But?"

"But, Hermione decided that before we did, Harry had to know. He was his godfather after all and if anyone should have a say in if he comes back to the world of the living or not, then it should be him. Anyway, Hermione spoke to him about a week ago. We only managed to get close to a conclusion about three weeks ago. When she spoke to him, he told her of an experience he had, where he... he saw Sirius. He was young again and he didn't look like he'd spent the last 13 years in Azkaban nor did he look like he'd lost the most important people in his life. He was with James and Lily, and Remus was with them too, and he was happy. So, Harry requested that we leave him where he was. He didn't want to take him away from the only happiness he had, even if that meant he didn't get to see him again. Not for a long time anyway," She took in a heavy breath and relaxed her shoulders slightly.

George seemed to process this for a while and Estella allowed him to before he asked, "So how does that take us to you thinking that you can bring Fred back? He didn't die by falling through the Veil, so surely it isn't possible?"

"I'll be honest. I hadn't even thought about bringing him back until tonight," She admitted, "When Hermione told me she wasn't going to continue with the research she was doing, I said I would because I enjoy it. I'm fascinated by it. It's like I'm back in school and I'm learning new things all the time."

"I can see that. You've had that look you always had when doing essays in school, it was weird," He scoffed.

"It's crazy I know. I went into the Black's old library, specifically to look for stuff about the Veil. I still hadn't even consider bringing him back then but that place is so old and some of the books are even older and I wanted to try and see if I can find anything else in them. And then tonight, Amy said what she said, and it got me thinking, if I find something, anything that indicates that I can bring him back, would I?

"He's been gone so long and how do you explain something like bring someone back to life to anyone? But I would. If somewhere in those books, or in anything I find, there is a way for me to bring him back, I will. I want Amy to have her dad. I want you to have your twin. I want Molly and Arthur to have their son back and for your others brothers and Ginny to have their brother back. Do you understand, George?"

"So?" He said, after another minute's thought, "You want to try and find a way to... _resurrect_ Fred?"

"I said it was crazy. And I know it's probably an impossible thing and I'm wishing for something to appear out of nowhere, but I grew up as a muggle and when I found out about my dad being a wizard and I was a witch and things I'd grown up _knowing_ were impossible, were suddenly very possible. Being a witch or a wizard is about finding ways to do the impossible so why can't I try?" She watched him as his eyes flickered back and forth and up and down, working out what she was saying.

"He's dead, Es," He said finally.

"I know. I was there when it happened," She said in the same monotone as he.

"And you really think this is the right thing to do? After all the grief and suffering that we all had to do, you think you should try to find a way to bring him back?" She could see he was struggling with the concept and she was too.

"I know, maybe I should be put in Mungo's after all, but it's because of all that grief that I want to try and find this. But remember, this is a one in a million _thing_ and I'm saying all of this with nothing but hope to back it up. I have barely looked at the books I got from Harry's and I have no clue as to what I'll find in them, if I find anything at all. I could just end up reciting what I already know," She conceded.

"Right," He murmured, frowning deeper and deeper as she spoke, "And unless you find anything concrete about this _thing,_ I don't want to talk about it or hear about it again," He was so _final_ and fierce about it, that it surprised her.

Estella gaped at him, "George."

"No!" He cut her off, standing up and putting his cup in the sink, "This is not just about you getting back Amy's dad or my brother, Es. He's been gone for so long now and this big idea of yours disregards any kind of goodbye or letting go that anyone did for him."

"But George," she tried as he stood tall and firm in the middle of the conjoined living room.

"I get it okay. You want him back and you want to show Amy what an amazing guy her dad was but you said it yourself, this is talking about a very small possibility that could forever only be that and unless I have solid proof that he will come back and you are able to say that this is not some minor maybe, then I can't stand by and listen to any of it," He gulped tentatively watching Estella's face fall, "By all means, research as much as you want, but please don't subject me to ifs and buts, okay?"

She nodded slowly as the reality of what she was suggesting dawned, "I'm sorry, George."

He paced back over to her and knelt in front of her, softening slightly, "I want him back too, but I can't consider some wishful thinking as my way to get that. I have never, and will never, get over losing him, you know that, but with uncertainty on a matter this huge, this significant, I can't put myself in the middle of it and expect myself to be okay. Unless there is cold, hard evidence, I have to keep on going, as I am, on my own. I just have to, for my own sanity if nothing else," He grimaced somewhat.

While he wanted to give his all to just the smallest possibility that he could have his brother back, he couldn't. It had taken too much and too long for him to get to this place where he could undoubtedly say he was happy with his life and he could live with it, even if his twin wasn't in it.

"I'm sorry, George," Estella repeated, "But I had to tell you something. I couldn't go ahead with something like this, to do with Fred and his life, without telling you. If would have been selfish of me," She explained, "But I get what your saying."

"Thank you, and I understand you too, but please, unless it's definite, don't mention this to me again," She nodded, "Thank you."

"Of course," She added quietly, "but I am going to keep on researching it."

He bowed his head slightly, as he stood and walked back to the hearth of the fire and checked his watch.

"I'm going to go to Angie's for the night. It's still early and I haven't seen her today," Estella remained quiet but looked at him and forced a smile to acknowledge his exit, before he stepped into the green fire and disappeared into the flames.

All the second thoughts that George had expressed came to Estella in a rushed wave as she eyed the pile of books that she'd discarded earlier, warily.

As she washed her own cup and the forgotten pot, she suddenly felt very guilty and very selfish.

She had initially factored this idea because of Amy and her wish to see her dad and with it she would have been able to give to so many people that she loved and cared about, something that they longed to be returned to them and missed dearly, but there was a big, massive in fact, feeling of self satisfaction that had come when the whole idea had crossed her mind just a short hour or so ago.

Was she being selfish?

Probably.

But then she looked at the books again and then to the door of the bedroom her daughter was currently lying in and she decided.

Yes, maybe it was some fantasy she'd never get to live and it'd probably drive her round the bend, but what harm could a bit of research do? Because for now, she told herself, that's all it was. And until she found something tangible, _if_ she found something, it's all it would ever be.

**A.N. Booyah! Another chapter!**

**That was difficult to write to be honest, but I hope it was worth it. I wanted to get George's perspective because like with Harry concerning Sirius, it was important.**

**Anyway, I hope you like, reviews are good for proving if you did!**

**Happy reading, **

**Jessica!**


	6. Five

**Gone but Not Forgotten**

_Chapter 5_

When she got up the next morning, Estella still had thoughts of the Veil roaming around in her head, mashed together with George's words of discouragement from the previous night, floating around in her head with bits and pieces breaking through in turn and shooting to the front of her mind.

Grabbing a change of clothes, she quietly snuck passed her sleeping daughter and across the landing to the bathroom, vaguely aware that George's bedroom door was wide open, showing he hadn't come home from Angelina's in the night.

Looking in the bathroom mirror, she grimaced at the worn out and ashen reflection, swiftly turning the sink faucet and splashing her face with the crisp cold water, before getting into the shower and brushing her teeth, all the while still wondering if going ahead with the research was the right thing to do.

What if she was just getting carried away with a mad idea? What would she do if everything she was imagining could happen, hoping to happen, never did? Just like George had said, it could be a load of useless, wishful thinking. Could she handle being so disappointed? So dissatisfied? Like a total failure. She'd never taken less than an O grade, well in her school work but she'd grown up a lot since then. Maybe she'd changed, but she didn't know.

But maybe George was right and it was a bad idea to get sucked into something so uncertain and undetermined about something so huge and life changing.

Yet she couldn't rid herself of this feeling, this _optimistic_ feeling, that she was going to _succeed _and she was going to find what she needed, the key, to bringing him back.

Estella didn't know if she'd find it in the books or if it was going to come from somewhere else, maybe in something they'd missed in the previous investigations, something that they could've missed, but she was too _excited _to let it go.

Somewhat refreshed, she inspected her cleansed self in the mirror and was grateful she was a witch and could dry her hair and apply any make up in a blink.

She heard the Floo network flair and knew George had at last come home. Swiftly, she dressed, not wanting George to see her in just a towel, doubting he'd want to be subjected to such a sight either, bracing herself before heading into the kitchen.

"Morning, Es!" He grinned like the Cheshire Cat as he settled himself into the couch, still dressed in last nights clothes.

She headed straight for the kettle, "Morning," She had expected some sort of awkwardness, but he seemed positively unperturbed, like the conversation from earlier had never happen. Perhaps that was his intention, "Good night, then?" The kettle started to boil.

George turned in his seat, resting his chin on the back of the couch, "Brilliant, amazing in fact," She smirked at his giddy expression, "I'll take one of those if your offering," He winked in what he thought was a charming way, only making her scoff as she grudgingly found a second cup and filled it with coffee.

"So, what's happened to put you in such a good mood?"

"I wish I could tell you. If it was up to me there'd been banners hanging around the shop already but Ange wants to wait until Sunday at Mum and Dad's when everyone's there," She gaped at him slightly.

"She's not pregnant?" She secretly wondered how Ginny would take having to share her similar news with someone else, having her thunder stolen.

"No!" He answered, slightly staggered, "She's not pregnant," Estella discretely sighed to herself, "But it is something pretty big," He had a look of triumph on his face as the kettle whistled at peak and Estella tended to it, a pensive smile on her face.

"Alright, I won't ask," She conceded, "But..." She pulled out her best sickly sweet smile.

"What do you want?" She could see he was apprehensive, expecting a repeat of last night as she passed him his mug, before sitting in the armchair with her own.

"Will you look after Amy today?" He visibly eased up, "I want to get some things done and I'll be out all day. I doubt she'll want to be dragged out by me when she can spend a day in the joke shop with her _favourite _uncle."

The triumphant smile returned slightly, "Of course I am. And of course I will, as long as you don't mind her being down there with me," He sipped the coffee, cursing as it burnt his tongue.

"Careful," She murmured, she too taking a sip, "Anyway, she'd kill me if I didn't let her in the shop. You have too much of an influence on her. She's going to be terrible by the time she gets to Hogwarts, especially if she keeps hanging around Teddy who seems to have inherited the famous Marauder personality. Poor McGonagall will go crazy," They laughed knowing too well that what she was saying was true, "It's fine as long as she doesn't get her hands on any love potions or sickness inducing treats. I don't want my daughter falling in love until she's forty and those boils were murder to get rid of last time!" George chuckled, remembering how his niece had picked up a purple sweetie, inspired by Hermione's jinx in fifth year on the D.A. list.

After asking what it was, Amelia, without waiting for an answer, swallowed it, resulting in boils erupting all over her. He'd quickly managed to cure her, but was secretly impressed that it'd worked.

"Sure thing," He continued to smirk at the memory, despite the pillow he got to the face.

Estella didn't know what had happened at Angelina's, but apparently it had erased any kind of memory of last night's conversation from his head and she wasn't going to question him about it.

Instead, she finished her coffee and made breakfast when Amy finally arose before leaving her and George to their day, while she set off for her own at the Ministry.

_**FrederickWeasley**_

_21__st__ May 2002_

Seventeen day's had passed since that morning. Estella and George had continued in much the same manner, so nonchalantly, as if nothing had been said. Estella was grateful. She had been worried the whole thing could affect their friendship with one another and she couldn't lose him after everything they'd been through together.

She was ecstatic when she finally learned, along with everyone else, on the Sunday at the Burrow, what George and Angelina's announcement was; they were getting married. This, along with Ginny and Harry's announcement, turned Molly teary for all the short space of half an hour before she shot up in front of everyone, proclaiming there was much planning to do – Molly's favourite kind of work; planning her children's weddings.

With them engaged, George had inevitably decided he was moving out of the flat above the shop, reassuring Estella that she and Amelia were welcome to it. Amy however, had huffed and puffed, letting her uncle know just how miffed she was that he was moving out. Charming as ever, George had hushed her by reminding her that him moving out meant she could finally have her own room. Her words to this revelation were, _'Moving out was the best decision you ever made, Unc,'_ and George was forgiven.

He'd moved out the just passed weekend but he was still around everyday, in the shop and the flat so it really didn't feel like much had changed at all.

As for Estella's research, that hadn't changed much either.

After the discussion, she'd moved all of her newly acquired books to her office at the Ministry, keeping them out of harms way. In all of the seventeen days that had passed, she'd only actually managed to go into the Ministry for five shifts, thankful she'd taken the job on at a flexible rate. She'd read only three of the twenty-four books, thoroughly going through each of them, reading them each twice, taking notes the first time and adding more the second time, before reviewing those notes and reading the book a third time to check that the notes were accurate.

Anything she found, anything she thought was useful, whether she'd seen it before or not, even if it was irrelevant to what she was _really_ hoping to find or indicate towards, she wrote down. She had to know everything, just in case.

But after getting so little done, in her eyes, she felt a little tired.

She was fitting in working at the Ministry in between raising her daughter, and helping George in the shop when she was needed and spending time with all the Weasley's, and being dragged into helping plan the wedding with ever female member of any related family that Molly knew, as well as helping Ginny when she had a pregnancy query and after all that, she was trying to remember that she still had a life and she was _supposed_ to be living it.

Hermione had seen her that morning and had tried her best to send her home, "You'll wear yourself out if you don't give yourself a break and that's coming from me who usually despises anything to do with procrastinating on work. I know how you feel, I've been where you are and I didn't enjoy it much," Estella had shrugged resulting in Hermione muttering, "I'll warn St Mungo's that you'll be there soon then, shall I?" She hadn't but Estella knew she was close.

But Hermione didn't know what she was actually trying to find, having moved onto a new case away from the Veil, and frankly Estella knew she'd go mad if she knew what she was looking for, preferring that she was kept in the dark, especially after what it resulted in when George found out. She wasn't going to risk anymore friendships.

After little to no success in the first chapters of the fourth book, Estella couldn't quite recall how or when she'd appeared at the door to the Death Chamber. She was just looking at it at the moment, contemplating. She couldn't remember if she'd made a conscious decision to go there or if she'd found something that had propelled her to the Chamber doors.

No, wait, she hadn't found anything in the book but she did remember, turning the pages of the book into the fourth chapter of it and throwing down her quill in a huff. She'd run a hand through her hair and had thrown her head back, feeling a strain in her neck after looking down for so long. It was so stupidly warm and the office she shared with Hermione was so stupidly small and stuffy.

She'd looked at the clock on her desk for the time, and noticed the day-to-day calendar next to it, where the date of the day had suddenly struck her. Four years ago, on this very day, she had buried Fred.

And then she was at the Death Chamber doors.

She could remember Fred's funeral like it was yesterday. She could remember the nauseous feeling she'd woken up with, wondering if it was pregnancy nausea or nervous nausea in anticipation of the day to come. She's gone downstairs and when she'd caught sight of Fred's casket and more specifically him _in_ it, she'd blanched and ran back upstairs vomiting whatever was left in her.

She'd stayed up there all morning until the service near the woods where she never said a word but had wanted to scream. She remembered holding George's hand and their conversation once they had been left alone and if she was asked, she could repeat it word for word.

She never did get to scream.

Estella kept on edging towards the door, before taking two steps back and snatching her hands away before they could touch the black gloss.

With one big heavy sigh, after twenty minutes of going back and forth, she finally stormed towards it, bursting in and slamming the door behind her. She heard them straight away; the whispers.

Estella knew why she was there.

She wanted to hear him, talk to him. She'd never done it before and now more than ever she needed to hear him, encouraging her.

She needed to know after all these years, if he was still around. Just there, hanging out. She'd wanted to know that every time she'd come into the Chamber but she'd never had the nerve, or the bottle. '_Some Gryffindor she was; Coward._' She thought, every time.

She approached it carefully, stepping up onto the dais and sat on the platform floor, about three-feet in front of it, like she'd done every other time she'd been in there, the whispers becoming stronger and clearer as she neared.

She knew that visiting it like she did wasn't the smartest idea she'd had, as she'd read about how people had become so entranced by it, that they'd never truly been able to get away from it afterwards, but she couldn't resist.

"Hello," She muttered and the familiar rush came at her, like a sudden breeze had caught up in her direction, "Me, again," A _whoosh_ sounded from the archway and she watched the thin curtain inside, fluttering, never still.

Her head fell in her hands as she listened to the Veil's sounds moving around her.

She'd heard it before but chose to ignore it in the past; the echo inside the Veil that reminded her so much of him. She just knew that was him, she felt like it was him, she felt like she used to when he was near her. It was too _familiar_ for it not to be him.

Whilst quiet in the sea of others, it had the boisterous, rustic, warm and so delightfully appealing qualities that made her know it was Fred and only him. It was so distant in the mash of noise though and she needed to feel like he was closer, in touching distance but she knew to achieve that, she had to call him to her and it was that frightening sense of impending frustration and disillusionment that stopped her every other time she was there. What if it was just another thought in her clearly crazy imagination?

Slowly, Estella pulled her hands away, rubbing at her eyes and looking up at the curtain again.

With a deep breath, she finally said, "Fred?" Her voice was strained and she suddenly sounded very tired and worn out. Nothing changed for a minute and Estella was reminded of when she'd summoned Tonks, who had also taken a little longer to give a response.

Then it happened.

The background of his whisper rushed forward, excited and happy and Estella couldn't believe how much like a _laugh_ it sounded, taking her back to her and the twins' days at Hogwarts, sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room and laughing at pranks that the Second Years had fallen for.

She was stunned.

She hadn't imagined it.

She hadn't dreamt it up and she most certainly hadn't been disappointed.

"Fred?" She said again, with a little more vigour, the laugh rung through again. Before it had a chance to disappear again, she asked, "Do you even know who I am anymore?" A rush of a breeze came at her as if he had just headed towards her at top speed on his broomstick, the laugh going up in volumes, rising in pitch just slightly.

Going on instinct, she took that as a yes, "Oh, I thought you might have forgotten me," She chuckled, as did he, a low tinker, an 'as if'.

He seemed to float back then, when she failed to say anything else for a few moments before she enquired timidly, "Can I do it, Fred? Can I bring you back?" Another excited chime came through but this time it felt thicker and less jovial, a 'don't know.'

"Helpful, thanks," A sigh emanated seemed to follow the laugh, "Do you _want_ to be brought back?" That rush came at her again, but at twice the speed and with twice the power and the laugh... oh, the laugh, it filled the whole Chamber, loud and bursting out at the Veil's concrete archway seams, roaring around her. It lasted much longer than any other response had and it swept Estella up, lifting her mood and spirits, pulling them in, entwining them with his.

The books were right; this stuff was addictive.

But it was enough to convince her. If Fred wanted it, or so it felt, then she'd do it.

She sighed again as the uproar settled, standing on her spot and looking as deeply into the curtain as she could.

"I still love you," She could only be described as feeling like she was on cloud nine when the great gust was in the room again.

Now she could do it. She knew she could because with Fred's support, she could do anything.

**A.N. Another Chapter :) A little bit of writers block tried to kill me while writing this, but I fought back and won! :P**

**It's hard to write conversation with practically a mute, though. Just saying.**

**Thoughts? Please?**

**Thank you and Happy Reading,**

**Jessica.**


	7. Six

**Gone but Not Forgotten**

_Chapter 6_

_*Dream*_

_Estella was spinning. She was spinning and she was spinning fast and all she could see was an eruption of colour; red, blue, pink, orange, purple, yellow, green, everywhere she went, swirling together, like she'd stepped slap bang in to the middle of a rainbow._

_Before she could even begin to comprehend what was happening, she crashed to her feet and she struggled to find a reasonable explanation of why she hadn't just broken her legs._

_The colour was gone. Everywhere, everything was white._

_She realised quite suddenly that there was an unmistakable smell that she hadn't smelt in a rather long time. She revelled in the freshness of the air mingled with the tart scent of oranges and lemons but it was so similar to the last time she'd smelt it, that it still had the sense of being polluted by the distant murkiness that the wizarding world had been dusted in, all over them, everywhere they went._

_She was instantly taken back to a time when Fred was still around. She'd been stood amongst the reeds at Muriel's for the first time, when the smell had first hit her and in that moment, she'd become an engaged woman._

_She didn't even flinch when a pair of familiar long arms, came around her from behind, pulling her to the chest of another, as she caught a head of red hair in the corner of her eye, the culprits chin laying gentling on her shoulder. She already knew far to well who it was and with a blink of her eyes, the white was gone and Muriel's field had replaced it, looking exactly as it had that day._

"_You've not changed," The man said, "Those cogs are still working over time," She could hear the smirk in his voice._

"_What am I doing here?" She stuttered, unsure._

"_How am I supposed to know?" He asked in a light tone, a voice she hadn't heard in too long, "You were always the clever one."_

_They laughed together, a melody, "Forgive me, if I beg to differ. Having a baby alters how a brain functions, I'm afraid," She felt his chest heave against her back as he took in a deep breath._

"_I'm sorry, Es. I wish I could have been there. I so wanted to be, for you both, you must know that," She sent him a sad smile._

"_I knew, Fred. I wish you could have been there too, of course," He kissed her shoulder and the sensation of his lips on her skin was maddening._

_She turned in his arms and finally saw his ocean blue eyes, twinkling down at her._

_He pulled her left hand up in his right and her ring dazzled in the faux sunlight, "I relive giving you that ring, everyday."_

"_It was a pretty amazing day," She beamed along with him._

"_You've never taken it off?"_

"_Never. Plenty of people have asked why not, but why should I? I'm still yours, Fred," He entwined his hand with hers._

"_Well, when I go back, we can add another ring to that finger, can't we? What do you say?" She gaped at him._

"_When you – How?"_

"_You'll do it," Was all he said, firmly._

"_How?" She asked again._

"_**My Love with Death**__. That should do it," He responded, cryptically._

_She frowned, confused, "What are you talking about, Weasley?"_

"_I heard what you said. You'll bring me back," He grinned like all his Christmases had come at once._

"_We'll have to wait and see, won't we?" She responded, diminished of any confidence._

"_I suppose we will," There was a knowing tone in his voice as he tucked a hand behind her neck and brought her to him, longingly kissing her forehead._

_She just watched him for a minute, taking every centimetre of him in, and he laughed at her dazed appearance before she noticed that he was floating away and Muriel's garden seemed to be fizzing out._

"_Fred? What are you doing? Where are you going?" She whimpered slightly._

"_You have to wake up some time, love," His lips curved just slightly at the corners._

"_I don't want to," She argued trying to chase after him but her feet had cemented to the ground._

"_I love you, Es," And he was gone._

_**FrederickWeasley**_

Estella sat up with a start, gasping, "Fred..."

She had never dreamt about him before, not since he had died anyway. He had felt so _real_. She could feel him, the texture of his shirt in her fingers and his hands were as smooth as she remembered them to be, while his finger tips were rough and a little calloused from Quidditch and work. She could still smell the oranges from the fields and his cologne had been as spicily sweet as ever.

She briskly wiped away a fallen tear and collapsed back into her pillow, pulling the duvet up and over her head.

She was working in the shop today and for the first time she grimaced at the prospect. As always, George would be there and after being with the Veil the day before and now after the dream, she didn't know if she could look him in the face when it was so similar to the one she'd just seen.

She mentally shook herself, telling herself that she was being irrationally stupid. George wasn't Fred and she never felt sadness at seeing his face before because to her, Fred's was different, despite them being identical twins. She could see the minor differences between them, like how Fred still had a very small hint of baby fat and his eyes were lighter than George's by just a touch.

She remembered something abruptly from her dream. Something about Fred's face had been different. As fuzzy and unsure as it was, she could see his face looking down at her as clear as day. On his forehead, just above his left eye, there had been something new - A mark; a scar.

Nausea overwhelmed her and she reached the bathroom in a hop, skip and a jump before chucking up last nights dinner into the toilet bowl. She didn't have to think long before she knew where the scar had come from and it made her stomach churn.

It took about five minutes for Estella to ease up, and she collapsed against the bath, her chest heaving and a cold sweat sweeping her brow.

The bathroom door creaked with a splay of scatty auburn hair poking through and Estella saw Fred's eyes again, this time in her daughter.

"What's wrong, Mummy?" She asked, tiredly.

Estella motioned for her to come in and to sit on her lap. Amelia did and Estella wrapped her arms loosely around her waist, kissing the child's head and brushing her hair away from her face, "I'm alright, sweetie, I was just a little over heated," Amelia nodded, satisfied that her mother wasn't dying, "What are you doing up so early?"

Amelia sighed sadly, "I was dreaming."

Estella frowned, "Oh yeah? That doesn't sound too good. What were you dreaming about?"

Amelia shrugged.

"Amy?" Estella eyed her daughter carefully.

"It's okay," Amelia insisted.

Estella wasn't convinced, "Well, I can see its upset you, maybe talking about it will help."

"Not yet," Amy muttered.

Estella watched her before giving in, she wasn't going to force her to tell her if she didn't want to, "Alright then, well, why don't you go ahead and brush your teeth, eh?"

Amelia nodded and stood, pulling out the stool that allowed her to reach up to the sink and started brushing.

When she reached the door way, Estella asked her, "Jam toast, for breakfast?"

"And pumpkin juice, please," Amy comically mumbled over her tooth paste before being left to her own devices.

_**FrederickWeasley**_

Before Estella could think about her own dream again, she was downstairs in the shop. With her on the checkouts, Amelia was sat on the counter, watching the world go by quietly. Estella was worried; Amy wasn't quiet, in general. Yes, she was well behaved and she did as she was told but she was a Weasley at heart and usually when one of them was about, quietness wasn't, it was an inherent quality, especially with one of the Weasley twins as a parent.

George was in the back watching some new potion stew while Verity was filling shelves, as usual. The shop was nearly empty, with most kids in school and it was a weekday, leaving Estella free to relax but her daughter's funny mood was throwing her off.

"Amy?" Estella called to her, but was ignored, "Amy? Amelia!" She chuckled as a slightly startled Amy finally looked at her.

"What, Mum?" Her voice was distant.

'_I didn't think kids got mood swings until their teens,'_ Estella's mind sighed while she said, "Can you do me a favour or is watching the world go by more fun?" Amelia shrugged uncommitted, "Right. Well, I need you to go and get you're Uncle George for me. He's in the back room," As Amelia jumped off the counter top and meandered off, Estella shouted after her, "And knock before going in! You know how secretive he is about new products."

Verity appeared at her side then, "Is the little 'un alright? She's dead quiet."

Estella smiled appreciatively, "She'll be fine, she's just three going on thirteen, that's all. I think something's probably on her mind," She nodded towards the oncoming redhead, "Hence me bringing in the cavalry."

Both girls giggled, "I'll leave you to it then," Verity left, amused once more by the family unit that Amy had surrounding her.

"You called?" George leaned up against the counter behind Estella's with his arms crossed, while Amy returned to her people watching.

"I need your help," She looked at the little girl before she was assured she could continue unheard, "Something has upset her but she won't talk to me about it."

"Right," George nodded, knowing already, "And you want me to_ inconspicuously_ have a word with her and try and get it out of her?"

"You always know how to get things out of people, especially madam over there."

"It's a talent," He replied, smug, "Sure, I'll give it a go," He turned towards his niece, "Amy, what do you say, we go to Florean's for an early lunch?" He heaved her up and off of the desk, planting her on the ground.

She gave her mother a sceptical look, "Mum?"

Estella nodded, "Fine by me. I'll look after the shop, go on."

"Come along, kiddo," George urged, "We'll be back in an hour," He winked at Estella before they disappeared. She just hoped it worked, while she tried to remember her own deluded dream.

All she could see was the scar above Fred's icy blue eyes.

_**FrederickWeasley**_

As agreed, George came back with an ice cream devouring Amelia, an hour later and as soon as he was in the shop he called over to Verity.

"Hey V, can you come on the checkouts for a few minutes?" She nodded to her boss, "Amy, be good for Verity alright?" She just shook her shoulders and resumed her seat by the window.

George indicated to the back of the shop to Estella and she dutifully followed, intrigued. He led her up the spiral staircase, onto the balcony where the door to the flat was.

"Well? What did she say?" She questioned, anxiously.

"She had some dream last night," Estella shook her head.

"I already knew that, what else?" George raised his eyebrows at the interruption, "Sorry."

"Steady on, alright. What she was dreaming about, she's a little unnerved by it. She said when it started, she thought it was me in the dream but..."

Estella sighed, "But it was Fred?"

"Look, you haven't said anything to her about your research have you?" He eyed her like she was crazy and she gave the look right back.

"What? No! Of course, I haven't! What did she say to you?"

"Well, in the dream, he told her that she'd meet him for real soon," Estella gaped at him, "And she said, that he told her, to tell you something, for him," George explained rather quickly.

"What could he have to tell me? Why couldn't he just tell me himself?" He looked at her as if he was telling her the obvious reason why, while she was wondering why he hadn't said something in her own dream.

"Whatever it was, it's got her confused and unsure and she wouldn't say what it was he wanted her to tell you. I told her that the best thing to do, was to talk to you and she said she would."

Albeit frustrated, Estella nodded, "Okay, thank you, George," He nodded back.

"That's alright. I got ice cream out of it," She stifled a laugh as he started back down the stairs.

"I'll see you later."

"You will, no doubt. And don't push her, yeah?" He cautiously advised, before he disappeared from her view.

Estella looked out over the shop and her eyes fell on Amy, who was _still_ staring out of the window.

'_Now all I've got to do is wait, I suppose.'_

_**FrederickWeasley**_

It was when she was tucking Amelia in to bed that night, that Estella finally got some insight.

"Mum?" Amy chirped as she lay in bed and Estella perched herself on the side.

"Yes, darling?"

"Do you ever dream about people?" She sounded almost nervous.

"Sometimes, why?" She smiled reassuringly at her.

"Wha- What about- What about people who have... you know?" Amy cringed slightly.

"Once or twice, I have," She kept the smile, trying to help Amy, "Is that what you dreamt about last night, someone who's not around anymore?"

Amy nodded.

"Do you want to tell me who?"

She watched Amelia contemplate it for a minute before she responded quietly, "Dad."

Estella sighed, preparing herself, "And, was it a bad dream, or a good one?"

"It was okay," She shuffled in her bed, "Wasn't scary or anything. A bit odd though."

"Odd? How so?" She frowned.

"He said some things... not bad things... just... weird things... like..." She paused.

"Like what?" Estella pushed.

"Well... he said he wishes that he could see me for real and that one day he might... which is confusing because you said it's impossible but then he said that..." She paused again, momentarily, looking to her mother for assurance again. Estella smiled softly at her, "He said, I have to tell you to remember, **'My Love with Death'**_**.**_Why would he want me to tell you that?" Estella had already remembered.

It was in her own dream, that he had said those very words. How could they be significant? She felt like she'd heard, or least seen them before but she couldn't remember where.

Not wanting to worry Amelia, she continued to smile at her and said, "I don't know, sweetheart. He was always an funny one that father of yours," She laughed a little, as did Amy, "Don't worry about it. Your dad just probably wanted to remind you that he's always watching over you. Don't be scared about dreaming about him, Amy."

The girl shook her head, "I'm not! I just wish he didn't say stuff that was complicated that's all. I'm only three!"

Estella smirked at her, "Yes, you are, which means lights out for you!" Amy tutted before yawning, "I'll see you in the morning," She switched off the night lamp before heading to the door.

"Night, Mum," And she was as good as asleep when Estella finally left her.

Making it back into the living room, she quickly dug out some parchment and a quill and scribbled down the 'message' Fred had given to Amy.

She stared at the words before deciding she was going to make an impromptu visit into the Ministry tomorrow. Maybe they were _in_ one of her books? Maybe it _was_ one of her books? She wouldn't know until the next morning. But whatever it was, she knew it was important and she wasn't going to forget it in a hurry.

**A.N. Tada! Erm... No message for this one.**

**Thoughts, Please?**

**Happy Reading,**

**Jessica.**


	8. Seven

**Gone but Not Forgotten**

_Chapter 7_

_29__th__ May 2002_

Never, had Estella imagined that any of her research would develop so quickly, so fast, that even she would have a hard time keeping up with it all.

In the week since her and her daughter's strange dreams, she'd tried to spend as much time, as was viable, at the Ministry. She scoured all of the old files. She read everything that they had collected in the last investigation, from the list of names, and the profiles of those people, that had fallen through the Veil, to the list of all the resources used by her and Hermione. She had reread the books that she had _already_ read from Harry's inherited library and none of them had had _that _phrase; none of them - nowhere.

So, Estella decided it best to just continue with it the way she already was; reading the books and taking notes as she went, not specifically looking for the phrase and instead just _looking out _for it. She wasn't going to go out of her way to try and find it. If she was _meant_ to find it, then she would, in time. She just had to hope that she _was_ meant to find it.

The night that she'd made that decision, three nights ago, she dreamt about Fred again. Apparently, he was impatient and he didn't like that she wasn't outwardly looking for it. She should have expected it;

_*Dream*_

_This dream had started differently. Straight away, she was surrounded in the white that she'd been encircled in the time before. There was no colour, none at all. This time, Estella tried to work out where she was. She walked around trying to find a wall or a corner or even a door but it was no use, the white was just endless. It was like Limbo. She wondered briefly if this was a form of Heaven._

_And then as suddenly as last time, a certain scent hit her senses like a ton of bricks._

_The burning of a log fire and the passing of a fresh-air-draught from an open window and butterbeer and firewhiskey that the sixth and seventh years had snuck in at the weekend from Hogsmeade; She was in the Gryffindor Common Room._

_She looked down and the royal red carpet was there before the rest of the room and its decorations as she remembered them, appeared before her very eyes, a certain fiancé of hers lounged on the couch, his back to her, his arm stretched across the back and his legs crossed, an ankle perched on his knee._

_Prepared this time, she _casually_ walked around the couch and plopped, literally plopped, down next to him, snuggling herself into his arms like she wished she could in reality every single day._

"_So, what cryptic message have you got for me this time?" She asked warily._

"_What was so 'cryptic' about last time?" He grinned at her, teasingly._

"_That bloody quote! It's driving me mad, you know," Despite trying to be a little angry, she couldn't help smiling at him._

"_Well, as long as you don't give up on it. It's not a quote, by the way, I can tell you that much," She raised her eyebrow pointedly at him. He laughed, "Sorry, that's all you're getting," She slapped his chest playfully before cuddling into him again._

"_Well, that's just mean," She huffed before adding, "Speaking of, you put Amelia into a right tizz after you appeared in her dream. She didn't know what to make of it. George was the one to get it out of her. Without him, I don't think I'd have ever found out that you'd gone to her too," She explained this all very quickly._

"_Sorry, I didn't mean to put the frighteners on her, never; but I had to make sure you remembered. And it gave me a chance to introduce myself," She smiled at how proud he sounded._

"_I know, she said you didn't scare her, just confused her. She's so smart though, Fred, she's already showing signs of magic._ Controlled_ magic," Estella gushed as she thought about how many times she had wished in the past that she could have a proper conversation with Fred about _their _daughter and even though she knew that this wasn't real, it felt it. It felt like this was reality, how reality should be._

"_She reminded me of Ginny. Ginny was quick too. I think she was the quickest of all of us, actually. But not just that, she's got the Weasley attitude, she's fiery. When she found out who I was, she threatened to spike my juice with a Puking Pastille _and_ the eye of a newt if I was an imposter pretending to be me; I was just relieved that she didn't already have a wand and that it was a dream and there wasn't any juice for her to spike," They both laughed out loud._

"_She'd have done it too. That's George's influence," He noticeably sobered at the mention of his twin, "What? What's wrong?"_

"_George. Has he been there a lot? I mean, are he and Amy close?" She couldn't help hearing the understandable jealousy in his tone._

"_Of course, they are. I moved back into the flat when I was pregnant and, obviously, George was there but she knows the difference between him and you. She knows who her dad is. George is just George. He looks after her, and me," She explained, "Would you prefer that they didn't get along? That she didn't like him?" She turned and faced him, curling her knees under herself._

_He gave her a reproachful look, "Absolutely not. I'm glad that she's close to him, I am, of course I am, I just wish it was me instead. It should've been me."_

"_I know," She blinked back a few tears before grabbing his face in her hands and firmly saying, "Your her dad and I'll never let her think or treat anyone else as if they were, okay? She yours; ours. No one else's," And for the first time in four years, whether it real or a dream, she kissed him._

_It was everything she remembered and the love that had been there before had only amplified a thousand times over, bigger than what should be possible. It was almost tangible._

_When they broke away, he mumbled reflectively, "I knew there was something I forgot last time," They laughed and Estella pulled back further, just so she could see him properly._

_She observed him for a moment, as he did her, and she saw again the mark above his eye. She brushed her thumb tentatively over it, "I never noticed it when we were still in the Great Hall or when you were in the c- you know," She broke off quietly, "I don't like it."_

_He gave her a sarcastically affronted frown, "I think it looks macho. Battle wounds are macho," He grinned goofily._

_She softened before replying, "Exactly; Battle wound. A battle in which _I lost you_. George lost you, Amy, everyone else, they lost you. I still don't like it," He pulled her tightly to him, her head on his chest and his arms wrapped around her._

_Kissing her forehead, he said, "Yes, but you are going to get me back. And while I may always have a silly little scar," He chuckled, "I'm still irresistible," He growled deep in his throat and Estella slapped him again on the chest._

"_You're incorrigible," She argued light heartedly._

"_You still love me though," There was no question to his statement and she could _hear_ him smirking._

"_Always. You still love me?" She asked._

"_With everything I am," And the pair fell into a comfortable silence._

_Before long however, Estella was falling asleep in his arms and the dream was slipping away._

"_Don't give up," Was the last thing she heard._

_**FrederickWeasley**_

And she hadn't. But she stuck to her decision. She wouldn't outwardly look for it and if it was there, she'd find it.

She had just finished her sixth book and she was just about ready to go home and to go to bed, not that she would, she was going straight to the Burrow for dinner and to pick up Amy. Bill, Fleur and Victoire would also be there and she was interested to know how Fleur's second pregnancy was going – she was due in October.

However, when she went to add the finished book to the 'done' pile, she happened to see the title of the next book on the 'to read' pile.

It wasn't 'My Love with Death' but it wasn't far off; 'When My Love Met Death' By Chester Quillty. She picked it up curiously. It had to be the oldest book in the set. It was worn and tattered and when she checked the date, she wondered how it could have _survived_ from the year 1443; it looked like an original copy. She skimmed through the pages and the colour was certainly not the pearly white of new parchment but the dirty yellow that you'd expect the inside of the tree bark the parchment had come from to be. It wasn't a large book, maybe a few dozen pages at most and the scripture inside were quite large, and Estella knew it would be quick to read.

Knowing she was already late, she bid Hermione goodnight, who was going taste testing for her and Ron's wedding rather than going to the Burrow, and stuffed the book in her hand bag before disappearing into the Floo.

Within seconds she was in the Burrow's living room and she called out, "Molly? Amy?" And her daughter quickly ran in and hugged her around the knees, Molly following slowly behind.

"Mum! Victoire's getting a little sister! Isn't that great?" Amy shouted excitedly.

"Now, now, dear, calm down, let your mother in, she must be starving," Molly ushered Amelia off of her mother before hugging Estella herself and pulling her through to the Kitchen.

She greeted Bill, Fleur and Arthur and was greeted with a hug from Victoire, before she sat down and Amy clambered up onto her lap.

Estella already knew that the night would be long and if she wanted to read her book, she'd just have to wait until tomorrow.

**A.N. So... I feel horrible after this chapter... I really don't think I like it but I feel really bad for not updating earlier so I'm going to let you all have it. **

**Just so you all know, in case you think things are happening a little fast, I never intended for this to be a gazillion chapters long so they are happening as above, for a reason which is that I intended them to.**

**I very nearly had her find the secret to her inevitable success in this chapter but nope... I decided against it. **

**Anyway... sorry for the wait; I don't think the next chapter is going to be released any quicker either, I'm afraid.**

**Reviews? Please? They are encouraging.**

**Much love,**

**Jessica.**


	9. Eight

**Gone but Not Forgotten**

_Chapter 8_

_30__th__ May 2002_

The next day seemed to be forcing on Estella anything that would stop her getting to her book. She wasn't at the Ministry that day, but she was in the shop and unusually it was busy for a time when most kids were away at school. She guessed some of the younger ones were trying to get a head start on the pranks before their older siblings came home but whatever the sudden influx of unpredicted customers was, it was proving to be an agitation to Estella above anything else.

It was non-stop all day and she only managed a half an hour break at lunch. Then there was looking after Amy to consider, who had decided that today was the day to be hyper with the help of George who had kept his promise from earlier in the month and had taken Amy with him to Hogsmeade, while he checked on the other shop, and had bought her two cauldron cakes. She almost _destroyed _the whole shop when they got back and Verity looked like she was having difficulty trying to not pull out her wand and body bind the little girl.

Estella ending up taking her back up to the flat, where she continued to run riot, making a mess everywhere she went before finally, at about four o'clock, collapsing on the couch leaving her mum to go around cleaning and putting back everything she'd moved or knocked over. She was surprised there was nothing broken, but nevertheless thankful. On top of all that, Estella had to make the dinner and she was the first to admit that she wasn't the most profound cook to exist so that was a difficult task itself.

By the time Amy was in her bed at seven, Estella was more exhausted than her, so she grabbed the book, and climbed into her fresh and comfy bed but she refused to let it drag her into sleep, she had to read this book and she was too anxious not to.

Without another second's procrastination, she flipped it open to the first page and willed the book to be what she was looking for.

'_My name is Chester Quillty. I work for the Ministry of Magic and in the Department of Mysteries is something that separates us from what we become when we pass over. I recently lost who I knew to be the love of my life, my soul mate. She was young, carefree and a fighter. And she died at the hands of evil, unfairly so, her death was unjust and no matter what, I could not rest knowing she was gone and for good. _

'_The thing, deep in the chambers, was my last link to her and I was determined to get her back. This is how I did it.'_

Estella gasped. Chester had succeed? So, she could too!

And so, she kept on reading.

_**FrederickWeasley**_

She read and she read and she couldn't stop. Chester Quillty documented everything he did, in between losing the love of his life, to finding the Veil, to spending days sitting with it; much like Estella had done, listening to the cacophony of noise from beyond it and talking to it like it was the person you most desired and it in turn responding with the most individual of sounds that could only be the essence of the one you wished to encounter.

It would entrance him so much sometimes that he commented on often feeling like he had fallen through the Veil too, he just hadn't noticed, and the motion hadn't passed through any conscious thought - it'd just happened, or so he believed, when he'd come crashing back to reality.

That would be when he would leave because he didn't trust himself to stay any longer and to stay on the living side; he was more than willing to step through it if it meant being reunited with her.

Estella knew exactly how he felt and she knew exactly what he had experienced because she had experienced it too and if it hadn't been for Amelia and having to think of her little girl first, she may have willingly walked into the world of the dead too, just so she could be with Fred.

And then Chester'd gotten to the exciting – important – bit. He spoke candidly that by the time it came to finding his blessing that he'd almost given up and moved on. He'd almost decided that this life, without her and without the feel of her in his grasp, would be it for him and almost decided that he would just have to deal with it because she wasn't coming back and death was a part of nature as was grieving and moving on.

But Chester never let her go and Chester met the epitome of luck when his colleague haphazardly expressed knowledge of a man who was still living and had been there at the creation of the 'something' that was a barrier of sorts to the dead and knew how to get past its walls and how to pull back someone once lost and thought forgotten.

He went where he had to and found a man only known as _Mister_. Chester never saw the mans face and he never inquired of why the man hid it under his grey, patchwork cloak – all he cared about was finding her again.

Mister was hesitant at first in giving any information to Chester and would often run away or avoid him because he daren't share the secret of, essentially, cheating death. It was against nature and whilst he knew how it could be done, he didn't know if his morals would allow it, not again.

He eventually told Chester that the only way he would get her back, was if she was his true love, his soul mate. Chester insisted that she was and that no other person would ever be such for him and the same for her.

And then, after months of asking and pestering of the frail aging man that was his only option, the man caved. He told Chester that there was a way to summon your true love from the world of the dead with just one incantation.

'_Meus Diligo Per Nex'_ was the incantation after which you would say the name of the person that you wished to return. A Latin phrase which could be translated as, _'My Love with Death'_.

Estella nearly screamed with delight before remembering that Amy was sleeping in the next room.

Fred had told her to remember that and it _was _a phrase after all. It wasn't just a phrase though, it was the bloody spell... why couldn't he have told her that in the first place? She mentally cursed Fred for being so difficult.

Mister explained to Chester, however, that the spell would only work if they were _truly_ and _eternally_ soul mates. If the universe and the _magic_ of the world believed that that was what they were then it would work and his love would be returned to him. However, if she wasn't, then he wouldn't see her again until his own dying day.

Estella had frozen at that point. She didn't doubt her love for Fred. It had never waned in the time since his death, if anything it had grown even more, and it had been there and alive in her since she was about fourteen; but were her and Fred 'it'? Were they meant to be? She certainly thought so. She wouldn't have agreed to marry the bloke if she didn't and she didn't think he would ask if he hadn't thought so too. Yes, she thought, they were soul mates.

Chester went on to say how he deliberated for days, once he had the incantation in his mind and he was um-ing and ah-ing for a while. He too said he didn't doubt his love for his lady but what if magic did?

He thought over it until he returned home and found himself almost immediately at the foot of the Veil. It took him a few minutes to find his courage and strength before he finally directed his wand at the Veil and said '_Meus Diligo Per Nex, Manila Arkwright.'_

Chester documented all he could remember. He said it took a while for any reaction to surface and he nearly abandoned it, until the earth seemed to rattle.

Beneath his feet it rumbled and moved and rocked so much that he himself stumbled backwards and fell to the harsh, rough ground. He estimated that this went on for a minute before it came to a sharp stop and the fluster was over.

Another few minutes, he estimated, and he just sat and waited in silence and he guessed, once he got impatient, that she mustn't have been his one and only after all. He was devastated. He dragged himself to his feet and headed for the outside world, finally leaving her behind, forever.

He was just at the exit when the sound of stone heaving against stone alerted him and he turned to see the curtain in the middle of arch had disappeared and a black hole was in its place.

Thirty seconds later and his lady, or Manila, was literally flung through the gates and back into civilisation.

'_And with that,' _Chester wrote, _'our story ended with the unusual happily ever after. I can safely say that the Veil was my greatest find in life but if it wasn't for Mister then I would have no life to live. Mister, I thank you. You gave me back what I lost and you could never know how much that means to a man. _

'_Never give up on true love, it will always be there and there are always ways of keeping it, if you know how. My Love with Death, no more.'_

And his story ended.

It would come as no surprise, when Estella found herself unable to sleep that night no matter how tired she was and no matter how much she wished she could.

She tossed and turned in her bed before flinging off the covers and sitting on the bed edge, running her hands through her hair over and over again. She picked up the book and flung it back down again a few times before pacing the floor of her bedroom. If she wasn't careful she was going to make a hole in the floor and land on top of the Pygmy Puffs display.

"Get a grip, Es. This is what you've been looking for..." She hissed to herself, "Don't get all fidgety and scared now."

She threw on her dressing gown with a glance at the clock, 3am, and padded heavily to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water. She couldn't figure out how she'd gotten so agitated but trying to work that out was agitating in itself.

She'd been nervous before many times in her life but this was something different.

She was at the Ministry tomorrow. She'd know by then if this was going to work or not.

Hell, by this time the next day, she could imagine quite clearly, herself curled up in bed, with Fred right next to her.

_**FrederickWeasley**_

_31__st__ May 2002_

And there she was, by lunch time, stood in front of the Veil. She had crept off, out of the office, without anyone noticing. Hermione wasn't in that day so she didn't have to avoid her, which was a god send, Estella thought, because Hermione would probably be one of many to have incarcerated her in St Mungo's if she'd found out what was going on just a few corridors away.

Estella almost admitted _herself_ that morning. She had caught just an hour's sleep during the night and even Amy had commented on how tired she seemed before she was left with her grandparents for the day and she felt like a ton of bricks were forever standing on her shoulders, pulling and pushing her down.

But still, there she was; Just her, the Veil and her wand in the desolate Death Chamber.

She really wished she could have slept properly. Maybe then she would have dreamt of Fred again and she'd have had the words of encouragement that she needed.

But no, she hadn't slept and Dream Fred hadn't told her he was ready and it was the right thing to do.

And she was still stood in front of the Veil.

Merlin, she was sure the thing was taunting her

She twiddled her wand in her fingers and winced when it sparked against her finger.

"Steady on, wand, I'm not ready yet," She whispered and was sure a teasing laugh came from the Veil behind her.

She shook her head and took a huge breath; and then another; And a third, before widening her eyes and turning to the monstrosity which was literally the difference between life and death.

Lifting her wand stiffly, she pointed it at the gap in the stone walls and watched as the curtain fluttered in its unearthly breeze.

"It's now or never, you dolt. Get on with it," Estella urged herself before clearing her throat and saying loudly, "_Meus Diligo Per Nex, Frederick Weasley!_"

...

She waited like Chester had and as sudden as it had for him the earth moved beneath her feet. It shook and vibrated and trembled as she rocked to the floor to try and find a steady place to stay. She wondered momentarily if any of her colleagues could feel it too and were wondering what on earth, or beyond, was going on.

And as suddenly as it started, it stopped and there was the still silence that Chester had reported too. Like him, Estella waited.

She waited and waited and with every glance of her watch she was getting an even further gap in the time of the cast of incantation and the reappearance of Fred. One minute, two, three, four, five, seven, ten, fifteen... it was endless. It truly was endless.

"He's not coming back," Estella gasped with a whimper and turned away, wishing that by some miracle that this would be the moment he did it. He was behind there messing with her head because joking around is what Fred does... did.

The sound of the rocks moving never came, and Estella left the Death Chamber.

She couldn't do it. Fred wasn't her forever. He wasn't her 'it'. He wasn't coming back.

_**FrederickWeasley**_

Amy was asleep before they even got home that night. After dinner with Molly and Arthur, Estella had made quick excuses and almost ran to the Floo home.

She didn't even entertain anything like washing or cleaning once Amy was in bed, and retired to her own room as soon as she could. She just wanted to say goodbye to this horrible day and the horrible feeling of rejection and disappointment.

After living approximately forty-eight hours without sleep, she only got to three when counting the grindylows. She said goodbye to the frustration and irritation of her failure and she said goodbye to the anger that she didn't know if it was directed at herself for failing, Fred for teasing her in her dreams and not appearing when he should, or at Chester Quillty for giving her hope.

...

It was dreamless and peaceful until a _CRACK_ loud enough to wake the whole of Diagon Alley roused Estella, shooting up in her bed, her wand already in her hand. She got up quickly and wondered what to do first; investigate the living room and then make sure Amy is okay, or the other way around?

'_Amy, first. Always,'_ And so she left the lights dim, just her bed side lamp was on, and crept into the hall between her and the Amy's rooms.

She couldn't see into the living room from there and quickly dashed across and croaked the pink bedroom door open. Amy was still blissfully snoozing.

Leaving her daughter's bedroom, she said, "_Lumos_," And the tip of her wand lit up.

"Okay, Es, you've fought in a war, you defeated death eaters, you helped to kick Rookwood's ass," She kept on whispering her few fighting 'achievements' to herself, trying to give her some bit of confidence as she neared the living area, remembering she was a brave Gryffindor at heart.

No one was in the kitchen and from what she could see, nothing was broken or stolen but before she could turn to the sitting area, a voice spoke, "Honey, I'm home."

**A.N. Ahhhh...**

**I am so sorry, again! For the wait, for the really not good chapter, I think, and for being ever so bad a keeping track of time when it comes to updating stuff. Sorry.**

**Erm... so... thats the new chapter... thoughts?**

**Please...**

**Also, just a quick question, I had a bit of writers block so to try and get through it I typed up a Remus/Hestia Marauder Era based one shot because I guess, I hoped that the gorgeous Moony would have a girlfriend at some point in school. Even if it was just until they left because we all know he was meant to be with Tonks. **

**Anyway, would you read it? (Would you review it, if I asked nicely?) Because I think there are only about three stories on the pairing and I don't want it to be ignored.**

**Anyway, yes, thoughts on this chapter please...**

**I love you all :)**

**Happy Easter and Happy Reading,**

**Jessica.**


	10. Nine

**Gone but Not Forgotten**

_Chapter 9_

Estella groaned and fluttered her eye lids heavily. She vaguely acknowledged that a hand was pushing her hair away from her forehead and another holding her hand, brushing a thumb against it.

She blinked once to no avail. Again and she knew that the kitchen light had been flicked on and a red head of hair was hovering over her. Once more and she could make out the matching features to the hair; blue eyes, parted not-too-thin lips, pink in tone, freckles and a scar over his left eye.

"I know I'm good looking, love, but you have never fallen at my feet before," As sudden as she fainted, she pushed the hands away, swung her feet to the floor and shot off what she recognised as her couch and raced around to the other side, so the couch became a barrier against her intruder.

"Whoever you are, this is a sick joke but I'm going to give you a head start before setting Azkaban guards after you. Be warned, I know Harry Potter," She felt around her person for her wand before growling at him, "What did you do with my wand?"

"Oh," He started like he'd just remembered something, turning to the coffee table, picking something up and turning back to her with an outstretched hand, her wand in it, "There you go, love."

She snatched it back and pointed it at him, "I am not your 'love'. Now get out!"

He, incredulously, chuckled, "You might want to point that the right way around first," She gave him a questioning look before realising her wand was indeed pointing the wrong way around and she turned it over, pointing it at him once more.

"Right. Now get out."

"This isn't fun anymore," He said seriously, but still with a hint of a smile.

"Tell me about it," Estella whined, finding this whole thing very difficult and very confusing and very intriguing all at the same time, trying as hard as she could not to stand in awe of the man because she was absolutely positive it had to be someone using Polyjuice Potion.

Although, unless they'd dug into Fred's grave and plucked a hair from his corpse – which would be rather disgusting - then that would be impossible. Or they could have snatched one before he died, however that would just be plain weird. The whole situation was, however, weird.

"Es, can you please stop pointing that at me?" He nodded to the wand.

"How do you know my name? Who are you? How did you get to... look... like that?" She flicked her hand at him, waving it up and down in the direction of the man's very familiar torso.

"You're my fiancé, so it'd be pretty dumb if I didn't know your name. I'm Fred, your fiancé, which you should also know, and I was born like this? I know, pure genius bit of DNA mixing from my parents... Urgh... I've just thought about how I was made... that is so wrong..."

"My fiancée is dead," Estella whispered to him dangerously, "Now, get out!" She shouted.

He watched her for a moment and she did him and it was only when a creak came from the hallway that they moved, "Mummy?"

Before Amy had a chance to see anything but red hair, Estella jumped in front of her and ushered her as quickly as she could back to her room. The man listened as Estella and the little girl spoke.

"Sweetheart, go back to bed."

"Is that Unc? Why's he here? Does he want his room back?"

"No, darling. It's a... distant cousin of George's looking for him. Barny. He'll be gone soon," The man laughed to himself as he remembered the wedding of Bill and Fleur Weasley and a certain wizard disguising himself as Barny Weasley. Lovely bloke.

"But I want to meet him," Amy whined from her room.

"Some other time, darling, go back to sleep, you'll see him in the morning."

"O...kay," Amy huffed and the next thing he saw was Estella backing out of the room and closing the door, placing a charm on the room.

He guessed it was a silencing charm so the child wouldn't hear any more talking, or shouting, as he expected it to be.

Once done, Estella wheeled round to the tall man again and pointed her wand at him, stiffer than before, "One last chance, who are you?"

Taking a chance, the man practically stormed to her side, as close to her as he could get, with her wand digging into his chest, and said, "It's me. I'm Fred. You have to believe me," His tone was begging and desperate and so unlike Fred.

But he looked just like she remembered from the dreams and he sounded just like he did in the dreams and as she remembered him before he died and he was looking at her the same way he did before he died.

So she withdrew her wand slowly and just as a smile was encroaching on Fred's face, she slapped him.

"How could you? How could you do that? You died! You promised me, you wouldn't! You promised me and promised that we'd get through it and we'd walk down the aisle and we'd get married! You said you would pay attention. You-"

"Did you just slap me?" He exasperatedly asked with a look of astonishment on his gaping face, a hand rubbing his red raw cheek.

They glared at one another for about a minute but soon Estella's face softened before peeling into a fit of giggles, of which she tried to smother with a hand of her own. He watched her with the same astonishment as she went. "I'm s-s-sorry," She stuttered through laughs, "I couldn't help it."

"It's alright," He scoffed with a smirk, "You could've just warned me it was coming first."

"You would've ducked," She countered.

"Too right," He raised an eyebrow, still smirking.

She sobered, looked him over for another quick second before circling him, wand still firmly in hand, and collapsing back onto the couch.

Fred followed her, tentatively sitting next to her. She was sat at an angle, with her back to him and her head bowed. He sat so close that if he just leant forward just a touch, that his chest would be against her back and he could but his arms around her. However, he settled with giving her the space she clearly wanted and placed one arm along the back of the couch and another on the arm of said couch.

"Comfortable?" She quipped after a few moments.

"Very. What happened to the old couch?" He asked, plucking at fluff.

"It got old," She said simply and quietly.

She was watching him from the corner of her eye and she could see he was taking occasional glimpses at her.

She twisted so she was facing him and once again, traced his so familiar torso with her eyes, taking every bit of him in.

She noticed the scar again but quickly redirected to his freckles and his lips and his neck and the collar of his purple shirt and the lapels of his waist coat and his tie lying haphazardly beneath it about an inch or maybe two away from his neck, the top buttons of his shirt undone. He was in a smart pair of trousers and his shoes were a pair she'd seen before. She'd seen it all before. She'd been there when he'd put them on, she'd been there and tried to redo his tie that morning

And then she'd been there when they got the call from the DA.

Fred allowed her to do as she wished and when he saw her hand twitch and edge towards his chest he hoped that she'd get there but before she could, she snatched it away.

"You look the same as you did... in my dreams and when..." She cut herself off.

"Dreams?" He frowned, confused.

"How is this possible? It wasn't supposed to work? It didn't work. I waited and you didn't come... so I left and then your here and your alive and real. I think," She prattled somewhat to herself, ignoring his question, as he laughed at her babble. She glared.

"I _am_ alive. Come here," He let out the hand from the arm chair to her and she eyed it warily, "Give me you hand," He urged and she did immediately.

She gasped at the touch. It was warm and rough and soft and big and Fred, just as she remembered. Slowly he pulled her hand to his chest and laid it flat under his own.

_thrumpthrumpthrump_

A heartbeat. She gasped again and a tear fell and she looked him in the eyes before dropping her wand, grabbing his lapels and pulling him into a hug, her chin going to his shoulder as her arms wrapped around him and his around her and she cried and he breathed heavily trying not to cry and they hugged.

Because they could. For real. For the first time in four years. _They hugged_.

"Oh, Fred..." Her voice was muffled slightly by his shoulder.

He didn't say anything; he just nuzzled into her neck before pulling back just slightly and kissing her just below the temple, next to her ear.

They didn't know how much time passed before they pulled apart.

"How?" She asked almost immediately as she wiped lamely at the tears on her cheeks.

"Well, I kind of don't know," He muttered.

"How can you not know? How do you not know how you were brought back from the dead?" She squeaked.

"I can tell you what I remember. It's not all pleasant but I can tell you," He offered.

"Go on then..." She urged quickly.

"Well," He leaned back into his seat while Estella relaxed too, before realising it was going to be a long night.

"Wait," She instructed, "Do you want a coffee? We might need it."

"Coffee? You hate coffee! You always said that it was useless when there is a lovely fresh tasting not bitter thing like tea as another, much better, option," He said, as she bustled into the kitchen and flicked on the kettle.

She stifled a laugh before saying, "I still think that but having a baby, requires a liking for coffee. Needing to be up at all hours makes it so," She noticed his eyes flicker with something before he slowly nodded.

"Right," He seemed to be contemplating something before he sent her a grin and said, "I'll take the coffee, bla-"

"Black, with sugar, yes, I remember," She smiled back.

A few minutes and the kettle was boiled and the smell of coffee filled the kitchen and living area while they settled on the couch.

"Right, so, what do you remember?" She asked as soon as she thought he was ready.

"I remember you having a different hair cut," He started lightly and she laughed again.

"Another child side affect, baby's pull on long hair so I trimmed it down," When he just nodded slowly again, she added, "Now that she's older I might be persuaded into growing it again though," To which he smiled.

"You look beautiful no matter what you're hair looks like," He was pleased when he made her blush.

"Stop going off topic," She curved her lips just slightly.

"You started it!" He protested.

"And now I'm finishing it!" She stuck out her tongue, "Tell me everything..."

"Alright, well, we're all in that corridor and Percy had just made a joke..."

**A.N. Look! It's another chapter! And it came a hell of a lot quicker than the last couple did. Are you proud?**

**I reallyreallyreally liked writing this chapter and the next will probably be the same...**

**Did any of you watch the Royal Wedding? Didn't Kate – or Princess Catherine of Wales and the Duchess of Cambridge, as she is now known xD – look gorgeous? I thought her dress was stunning and her and Wills are very lovely together.**

**Thoughts, please?**

**Happy Reading,**

**Jessica.**


	11. Ten

**Gone but Not Forgotten**

_Chapter 10_

"Alright, well, we're all in that corridor and Percy had just made a joke..." Estella nodded, regressing back to the moment, "I feel something heavy fall on me and it hurts, it _really _hurts, but it's quite quick and then it's all sort of blank for ages. I feel like something was happening but I just can't remember what, exactly. Like some sort of comatose limbo," He paused taking a sip of his coffee.

"Is that even possible? I thought that as wizards and witches that we got a choice, whether we move on or we become ghosts somewhere or other?" Estella asked, remembering her first year encounters with Nearly Headless Nick and asking the Gryffindor ghost.

"I don't know," He shrugged, helplessly, "Maybe I did get asked but whatever happened I don't remember it."

"Oh..." Estella nodded, also taking a sip of her drink.

"And then after, what feels like a lifetime's worth of silence and limbo-ness, I can remember hearing something. It's weird because it's distant but its echo-y, you know? Like when you're under water and everything sounds different above?"

"I understand. What could you hear?"

"I-I-Its gonna sound crazy," He frowned and it bothered Estella because she wasn't used to seeing Fred unsure of himself – she wasn't used to seeing Fred at all, at the moment, but nevertheless – and she didn't like when she did see it.

She automatically put her free hand on his and smiled at him encouragingly, "This is all crazy. We just have to take it in our stride, okay?" He slipped their hands together and grinned as he did it because she didn't flinch or snatch it back.

"I know I missed this," She cocked her head to side at the comment, "I can remember feeling like stuff was missing and I keep see your face in my head."

She sighed, "I missed you too."

They locked eyes for a while before she spoke again, "You said that you heard something?"

They kept their hands clasped together as he continued, "Oh, yeah. Well, it's kind of mushy at first. Its a mixture of voices and things and then suddenly someone is saying my name and I recognise the voice," Estella took a sharp intake of breath and Fred looked directly at her, "I think it was you, I mean it could have just been nothing and I could just be imagining it bu-"

"It was me," She admitted, "I spent a couple of days standing in front of the Veil and sort of calling for you and asking you stuff. I even asked you once if you wanted me to bring you back to life... I got responses too. Not words but... I guess, motions," Fred nodded vigorously at this.

"Yeah, yeah, it's like... you know when you can't get a word off the tip of your tongue but you've got that feeling in you're head that you know exactly what you want to say, but you just can't?" Estella giggled at his sudden burst of enthusiasm, which he took as a yes, "Well it's like that and I can remember how I _felt_ when you spoke to me too. I was so excited and I _so_ wanted to just find you and grab a hold of you and hug you so hard and kiss you... I was so... impressed..." A stifled laugh came between the two.

"But you can't remember anything visually or physically? It's not a tangible memory?" She enquired.

"No," He said, "It's like everything is in this limbo state. But I know there is supposed to be something there, like some other world," He explained.

"You mean, like some kind of 'heaven'?" She frowned deeply. She'd never been a big believer of heaven and hell although she did believe that there was an afterlife of sorts.

"Exactly," He replied, "I know something is there, but I think something is putting a stop to me actually seeing it and remembering it properly."

"So," She furthered, "What happened after you heard me?"

"Well... it's like it kept on happening and a few times I don't think you were actually talking to me but I could still hear you. I can remember little things like you mentioning George or the family," He paused, "Even the little one," Estella beamed at the mention of Amy, "And then it's a little empty, blank, before everything goes fuzzy and vague."

She squeezed Fred's hand, again as an act of encouragement, and said, "I'll try my best to understand."

He nodded slightly before continuing, "Right well, as I said, its quiet before, wherever I am, the place, it's like it starts moving, rocking, like I'm in the middle of a tornado or something. And I can hear your voice again but it's just calling my name, over and over again and I keep hearing it even as this movement or whatever it is stops.

"I can still hear you but that's it. And then there is this really blatant grinding sound coming from somewhere and, as clear as day, I turned around and there is this tunnel and your voice is coming from inside the tunnel, still just saying my name; 'Frederick Weasley.' So I follow it and it's getting louder and louder as I go.

"And then I get to this point and I'm literally flung out of the tunnel, into thin air and into this room and it's dark and there's an arch way with a weird foil-y, float-y thing inside it, and opposite that, is a big, black, plain door."

"You landed in the Death Chamber," Estella breathed loudly, a moment of recognition, "The archway you saw, is the Veil."

"That sounds familiar," Fred's brow furrowed.

"It should. You remember when Sirius Black died?" Fred nodded, "That's what he fell through, the Veil."

Fred's eyes widened, "Really?" She nodded, "Whoa."

"Yeah. It's like a gateway between the living and the dead and that is what you will have come through to get back to us, the living, and into the Death Chamber, which is where it has stood since before the Ministry was even made, when it was just the Wizards Council," He looked at her sceptically and confused, "I'll explain in a bit, when your done," He accepted that with a slow nod, "How did you get to the flat from the Ministry then?"

"Well," He cleared his throat, dry from all the talking, "Well, I was a bit freaked out by that Veil-thingy, so I went straight for the door as soon as I thought my bearings were in order."

"Was anyone there?" Estella started at the thought of _anyone_ at the Ministry seeing Fred. He was a well known victim of the Battle because of his connection to Harry and people would recognise him straight away. They'd have done more than slap, but it that way.

"No one saw me. Once I gathered that I was in the Ministry, I was walked the corridors and I came across one of the lifts so I got in and got to the Atrium pretty quick without being noticed. Once I was there I managed to creep past what looked like a few of Filch's relatives and into one of the Floo's and I managed to apparate here. I didn't really think about going anywhere else and I needed to see you. No one else came to mind," She smiled just a little at that before processing everything he had said and thinking it all over.

Just as she was about to say something though, Fred asked, "Wait, where's George? What did the kiddo mean about him wanting his room back? Where does he live? He's still running the shop right?"

Estella laughed at his concern for his twin and the shop before checking the time and seeing it was only half-two; She thought it would've been much later and she hadn't checked the time when she'd first woken up.

"Right, erm, George is living with Angelina now, he moved out a few weeks ago when they got engaged and so Amy moved into his room and yes, he's still running the shop," He gaped as soon as she mentioned that his twin was getting married.

"Angelina? Really?" Estella nodded and Fred gulped, "Took him long enough," Estella laughed, "I take it I missed quite a bit then?" He couldn't help feeling and sounding guilty.

"I think it's gonna be a long while before you have the whole story but I can try and explain it as best as I can," She offered lamely.

"That's all I ask," He smiled at her and she at him and once again they were peacefully sat in their own silence.

After a few minutes, Estella shook her head, "I still can't believe it, I didn't think it'd worked and I was convinced that that was it and I wasn't going to see you again. How can you be real? How is this not another of my dreams?"

"What did you do, though? And again, what dreams?" He asked before adding, "I am real, Es. This isn't a dream and I'm not gonna disappeared. Whatever you've apparently done, it means I'm back."

She raised a hand and cupped his face. It was a little rough, like he hadn't shaved for a day or two but it felt so familiar and she relished in it.

"She looks so much like you," She muttered, an outward thought.

He grinned, "I've got a daughter."

She nodded, "Yeah, Amelia. Amelia Grace Weasley."

"You named her 'Weasley'?" He seemed a little surprised.

"Of course I did," She answered straight away, "Why wouldn't I? Just because you weren't here? It's what she is, Fred, and I'm gonna make sure she's proud to be, just like I would have been if we'd managed to... you know..."

"I'm sorry," He muttered, taking her hand from his face and looking down to see the ring of diamonds and sapphires that he'd placed there four years previous, "You still wear it?"

Without a second's guess she replied, "Never taken it off."

"How come you've..." He tittered off, unsure as to whether it was the right thing to say.

"What?" She pushed.

"You've never met anyone else?" He frowned. Fred knew all too well that Estella was gorgeous and now she was even more so than he remembered, glowing, and he couldn't imagine her not having plenty of offers on the table.

"I've met people, yeah, and I guess I could've said yes to a few guys but I've never ever been able to get you out of my head," She confessed, "Fred, I love you. I still do, after all this time and I can never imagine myself feeling like this for anyone else. I've never met anyone who makes me feel like you do... did... do," She paused, "When I heard your voice, before I fainted," They shared a short laugh, "My heart when crazy. Just like it has done every time anyone mentions you at the dinner table at the Burrow or whenever Amy asks what you were like or whenever someone in the shop says they remember when you were around too. Just like it did when you got down on one knee and proposed to me and that's never going to change."

"I love you, Es," Fred professed.

"I love you too," She couldn't be sure, but she thought she might cry again.

His hand came to her face then, caressing her cheek before nearing, slowly but hesitantly. Estella couldn't wait any longer and before he could, she pressed her lips to his.

And she was right. When it came to Fred, their love had never faltered.

**A.N. Short, I know but it's another chapter so don't complain. Not the most exciting chapter but this part of the story is actually quite pleasant and easy to write and it gives me a proper chance to show how comfortable and close and open that Fred and Estella are with one another.**

**As one of the reviewers said though, it is going to get a lot more complicated once it comes to telling the family like Molly and Arthur etc.**

**Anyway... thoughts, please? **

**Happy Reading,**

**Jessica. **


	12. AN  Important, please read!

Hey guys!

I know I only _just_ updated with the eleventh chapter but I've decided that I'm going to take it back down and redo it. A reviewer who has reviewed me in the past say somethings and I totally agree with her that I am dragging it out a bit. I'm going to redo the chapter and try to move it on a little...

Give me another couple of days and Chapter 11 will be back up, redone and hopefully much improved!

Jessica.


	13. Eleven

_**A.N. This is the rewrite of Chapter 11... If you read it when I uploaded it last time then please read it again because this is totally different, totally different happenings in this chapter than the previous version, and I hope its a lot better than the last time! Enjoy :).**_

**Gone but Not Forgotten**

_Chapter 11_

_1__st__ June 2002_

A poking to the forehead was the next thing to rouse Estella. She could feel sunlight, bright and warm, seeping through the blinds of the window and fighting against her closed eyes.

The poking continued as she realised that it wasn't her soft bed that she was lying on. A set of hands were flat on her back as she rose and fell at the beat of his breathing chest beneath her.

She took in a deep breath as a voice she'd recognise anywhere said timidly, "Mummy?"

Estella groaned softly in acknowledgment and the incessant nudging stopped. Estella opened her eyes to see Amy looking at her curiously, "Morning, sweetheart."

"Mummy, why are you lying on top of Uncle George?" Amy cocked her head to the side in expectancy.

A shock of realisation went through Estella. Her head shot up off the chest and she looked at the face of the still sleeping man for it all to come flooding back to her – the journal, the spell, the Veil, the bang, the slap... the kiss... and then a _lot_ of talking.

She detangled herself hastily from Fred and rolled off of him clumsily, landing with a thump to the floor beside where her daughter stood.

"Huh, wha?" Fred grunted and Estella immediately eyed him with an I-mean-it look before speaking.

"You," She pointed at him, "don't say a word," She instructed as she stood up.

Fred, naturally, went to do the complete opposite but Estella was quick to put a hand to his mouth and "Mmghr..." was all that came from him.

"Not a word," She repeated.

He huffed under her and crossed his arms in defeat like a stroppy teenager, keeping his mouth zipped when she reluctantly pulled her hand away.

Her other hand, was meanwhile being tugged by Amy, who had apparently grown impatient, "Mummmmy."

"Amelia, please, just one second, okay?"

Amy huffed too, in a near imitation of Fred, unknowing of who he really was.

Looking back at Fred, who was still waiting with folded arms, Estella pleaded, "Please, can you go into one of the bedrooms? I need to speak with Amy on my own," She couldn't help but sound a little desperate and scared.

Sitting up and throwing his feet to the ground, he looked up at her and said, "I can stay if you need me to."

"Got a cold, Unc? You sound a little different," Amy commented.

Before Fred could say anything, Estella spoke, "No, I have to do this myself, its okay. You know where to go," She gestured to the small hallway from which the two bedrooms and a bathroom sprouted from.

He nodded slowly, standing and giving her nearest forearm an affectionate and encouraging squeeze before sharing a short smile with the pretty little girl, ('My daughter!' His mind screamed excitedly as he did,) and easily finding Estella's – and once upon a time, his – room, respectfully shutting the door.

"Why did you tell him to do that?" Amy asked, pointing towards the bedrooms.

"Sit down, Amy. I need to talk to you, it's important," Estella didn't know how she was going to approach this except with honesty and hope for the best.

"Can we have breakfast first? I'm hungry," She pouted at her mother.

"Okay, but we are going to talk while we eat, okay? This really is important, Amy," Estella led her to the kitchen.

Amy sat at the kitchen table and waited patiently as Estella quickly threw some eggs and toast together and sat apprehensively with her as she ate.

"Right, now, you need to listen to me very carefully, Amy," She received a glance in acknowledgement, "Ah...Where to start? Okay, erm, Amy, do you remember a few weeks ago, when you did your first magic trick?" Amy grinned at her proudly and triumphantly with a mouth full of food, "Do you remember what I said to you about your dad?"

Gulping sown food, Amy looked again, brows furrowed, "About Dad?"

"Yes, I said that if I could, I'd bring him back for you. Do you remember?"

Amy nodded, "But you said magic couldn't do that."

"I know I did, but-" She stuttered on what to say next as Amy seemed to have taken a sudden and intent interest on her, "Sometimes... things happen to make you realise that maybe things that we think are... impossible are actually... possible," It was then that despite the concentration, the three-year-olds face was drawing a blank.

"I don't get it," Amy's face screwed in confusion.

Estella chastised herself for being too complicated but then the whole situation was just that; complicated.

"I'm sorry, love," She chuckled softly, trying again, "What I mean is that I did some looking and I found a way to bring him home."

Amy let out a gasp, "Daddy's coming home?"

Estella smiled widely at the bewildered amazement on Amy's face, "Daddy's here, sweetheart."

Amy squealed in her seat and jumped up to hug her mum tightly.

It lasted a moment before Amy edged back with a questioning look, "Where is he?"

"That man wasn't your Uncle George."

"It looked like George," She said in an obvious tone.

"Who do we talk about, and look at pictures of, who looks like George?" Amy's face slowly lit up again.

"Daddy!"

But when the young girl jumped up again, ready to race to the bedroom, Estella stopped her.

"But I want to see him!" She whined.

"I know you do but just wait, okay? Finish your breakfast and I'll go get him, yeah?"

Stopped in her path, Amy frowned and put her hands on her hips, looking scarily like her grandmother, "Please Amy, I just need to speak to him first."

Amy scoffed as she made it back to her seat at the table, all the while muttering, "Enough talking."

"Hey," Estella smiled softly at Amy, "It'll only take a couple of minutes," She stood and kissed the crown of her daughters head, "Now, stay here, okay?"

"Okay..." Amy droned.

"I'll see you in a minute," And Estella backed away slowly, watching Amy grudgingly return to her cooling food, her feet tapping against the legs of the chair in impatience.

Estella shook her head and once her back touched her bedroom door she sent one last glance to her child before pushing herself into her room and shutting herself in.

As soon as she was inside, she heard Fred move from the bed, (apparently, from the squeak of relief that the bed let out, he'd been sat on it) to a stand behind her, his deep breaths on her neck.

"What did you say to her? What happened?" Fred said, almost frantically.

"She took it... amazingly well. She's excited to meet her Daddy at last," She grinned when his face blossomed at being called 'Daddy'.

"Bloody hell. I'd better get used to that, hadn't I? It's all happened so quick, I almost can't believe it," Estella had told him a few things about what had happened in his absence but all he kept asking about and directing the conversation to, once he knew about her and who she was to him, was Amy.

"Why only 'almost'?" She asked, intrigued,

"Too many unbelievable things have already happened for me not to believe it. Unlike being brought back from the dead," They shared a short laugh, "You and I having a child together is a totally viable, and welcome, development."

"So, are you ready?" She held out her hand for him to take, which he did immediately, fitting together as perfectly as he and she both remembered, while Estella led him out gradually, to properly meet his daughter.

The click of the door opening was enough to alert Amy but she seemed, on seeing Fred, to become stuck to her seat in a state of shock.

Stepping closer, still holding one another's hand, Estella and Fred approached with caution. Once close enough to the table, Estella smiled once a Fred and then looked to Amy, "Amy, this is your Dad."

Steadily slipping from Estella's grip, Fred neared even closer to Amy, crouching to her level and smiling warmly and proudly at her, "It's a pleasure to meet you, baby girl."

Again Amy broke out into the biggest, most thrilled grin, and just as she had before to her mother, she lunged at Fred, pulling him into an iron grip hug, the astonished whisper of "_Dad,_" floating in the air between the three of them.

With her in his arms, Fred stood up, holding her tightly to him in a moment of sheer bliss and on seeing that Estella had tears in her eyes and streaming down her cheeks, he extended an arm to her, pulling her into the hug and kissing both girls on the cheek; A family at long last.

"Why are you crying, mummy?" Amy asked when she too saw her mother's tears.

"I'm just really happy, darling," Estella gave her a watery glance, stroking her daughter's cheek.

"Then smile!" Amy urged and the three of them laughed.

"Yeah, Es, you look much prettier when you smile," Fred gave her a knee-jerking lob-sided smile and she blushed profusely.

"Oh, shush you!"

He stuck his tongue out at her petulantly and Amy laughed at their interaction.

Estella sighed contently before looking at Amy, still in Fred's arms, "Right, you, time to get washed and dress, okay?"

"But I like it here," Amy tucked her head comfortably, and naturally, into the crook of Fred's neck.

"I can see that."

"No, go on, Amy. Do as your mother says," Fred said before whispering, "She's scary when she gets angry," In Amy's ear, theatrically loud.

"I heard that," She swatted his arm playfully and left it there for a minute, a short moment passing between them, "Come on, Amy," She said, slowly pulling back to reality as Fred's eyes gleamed with triumph and delight, "Lets get you tidied up."

"Okay," She whined as she was placed on the ground by Fred and trudged ahead of Estella to the bathroom, her mother close behind her.

Halfway there, Amy paused and turned back to her parents, eying them back and forth with a mischievous grin that Fred thought he'd seen before, "Does this mean that your gonna get married now?" She said in her sweetest voice.

Fred grinned, beaming with confidence, while Estella let out a nervous giggled.

"One thing at a time, hey, sweetheart?" She didn't quite know if that was directed at Amy or Fred but they both took it and Amy was quickly ushered into the bathroom, Estella desperate to hide her reddening face from Fred. Not that he minded; back in the day, making her blush was a talent of his – He reminded himself to try and see if he still had the talent later.

Meanwhile, Fred reacquainted himself with the main area of a flat he once called his. It had changed since he'd last been there, not majorly but still small changes, like things had been subtly rearranged – new furniture and new side cabinets and a redecorated kitchen were the first things he noticed.

Walking over to the fridge he saw many things magnet-ed to it; Many pictures (Amy, Estella and George; Amy, a boy with blue hair and a girl with silvery blonde hair, all covered in what looked like cake; An old picture of himself and Estella; Another of himself, Estella, George and Angelina and so many others). A wedding invitation took his notice and he was pleased to see it was for the wedding of Mr Ronald Bilius Weasley and Miss Hermione Jean Granger, at long last. All sorts of memorabilia and notices of importance filled the fridges surface. A small calendar also caught his eye and he made another mental note; ask Estella what date it was, all he knew was that it was 2002, four years since his death.

He flicked through the cupboards and peaked in the fridge, collecting teabags and milk as he went. He filled the muggle kettle, one thing that was the same from the last time he'd been there, and flicked it on. While he waited for it to reach its peak he took Amy's discarded plate and the forgotten coffee mugs from the night before and started to wash them in the sink.

It was at that precise moment that the front door clicked open loudly behind him. Fred froze.

An all too familiar voice started to call, "Es..." But when it trailed, Fred knew he'd been spotted and he couldn't help but turn to see the visitor's face, gaping right at Fred; a face so similar to his own. A face he'd been waiting and wanting to see almost, if not just as much as his fiancé's and child's.

"Es!" Fred shouted, his eyes locked on the other man, "Es! George is here..."

**A.N. So, that's the rewrite... **

**Sorry for the confusion over this chapter and changing it about, I just felt it was necessary.**

**Thoughts please...?**

**Happy reading,**

**Jessica.**


	14. Twelve

**Gone but Not Forgotten**

_Chapter 12_

There are moments in life that you sometimes wish you could have been prepared for. Moments that you wish someone, some higher being - whether it be God or even Merlin himself – would warn you about before they happen.

For Estella, this was one of those moments.

She thought momentarily that she should have already anticipated such a moment but then life would have been too kind. She'd been so preoccupied in the ridiculous high that she'd safely been on for the last half an hour after seeing Amy meet Fred, that she'd hardly contemplated what would happen when George came for his predictable morning coffee and saw his, thought to be, long dead twin brother, stood in the kitchen.

Once Fred's voice had reached her ears, Estella had started to panic. She told Amy to get dressed and play in her room for a while and following a few protesting huffs, Estella hesitantly made her way back to the living room.

"Fred?" On spotting a wide eyed George, her speech faltered at a loss of what to say and all that left her was, "Oh, George..."

He, George, looked at her sharply, bewilderment etched in his eyes, "What have you done?"

"I- George, please," She dashed around the couch to where he stood, edging backwards towards the fireplace, "Please, just sit down, I'll explain," Estella tried to tug on his wrist but he pulled out of her grasp quickly.

"No, just... how?" He gestured to Fred across the room.

"I found a way... It's not exactly simple..." She offered lamely.

"'Not exactly simple'? I'd gathered that it wasn't as easy as the alphabet, Estella!" He shouted.

At the sign of shouting, Fred stepped in from the kitchen and stood slightly between where Estella was sitting and where George was standing, "George, just calm down, alright?"

"Calm down?" George scoffed, "Your dead! You're not supposed to be stood here!"

"_Was_ dead," Estella corrected quietly, "I brought him back, George," She smiled hopefully up at him, a reassuring hand falling to her shoulder from Fred.

"You weren't supposed to be able to do that. Magic's good but not _that_ good!" He protested.

"Old magic is. If you know where to look," She replied defiantly.

"No, it's not," He locked his eyes firmly with Estella's and gestured to Fred, "This is _madness_."

With a wry smile she said, "I never said it wasn't. George, please, sit down and I'll explain everything. I'll tell you exactly what I've done."

"Come on, mate," Fred said, obviously trying to lighten the mood, "It's like you're not happy to see me."

His joviality went unappreciated as George continued to fret over the moment he was suddenly trapped in, "Why didn't you tell me what you were doing?" He asked Estella.

"I told you. I told you what I was planning on researching and you said you didn't want to know!" She argued, irate.

"I said I didn't want to know _unless_ you found something of certainty. You obviously did, so why didn't you tell me?" He fought back.

"There was _never any_ certainty over this, George. Since when was there a certainty over bringing someone back from the dead? Huh?"

George sighed heavily, "As soon as you found whatever it was you found that clearly had a very high possibility of working you should have told me!"

"And what if it hadn't have worked, George?" She practically screamed in frustration, "I didn't it had! What if I had told you? What if I had given you all that hope, for it all to be ripped away and for it to fail right in front of our very eyes? Could you have dealt with that?" There was a tense moment of silence before she softly added, "I didn't want for you to get hurt all over again, George. I didn't want to be the reason that you slipped back into that shell that we've only just gotten you back out of.

"It all happened so quick that I didn't even have an opportunity to even consider telling you... telling anyone, for that matter," She gulped thickly.

George fell silent, taking a frozen stand still at that very moment. His mind running with thousands of new thoughts, he honestly didn't know what to think first. He took a sombre look at his brother, a man he'd never truly said goodbye to, never truly gotten over losing and couldn't quite believe that it was truly him.

Clearing his throat his feet took backward steps before he could even comprehend it, heading for the nearest exit.

"I can't stay here," He told tem distantly, "I've got to go," With his feet in the green flames, he gave Fred one final look, "I just can't, I'm sorry." And he disappeared, heading to the Leaky Cauldron.

Fred's hand slipped from Estella's shoulder and he too headed for the Floo, "I have to go after him."

"You can't! Fred!" Estella grabbed his forearm firmly, cowering slightly when he gave her a look of astonishment.

"Es? I can't just leave him!" He argued, trying to wriggle his arm out of her tight grip, "Blimey, have you been working out or something?"

"Fred," She felt like she was disciplining a child, "You _can't_ go after him! If people see the _two _of you, the whole wizarding world will be in uproar. You're a walking dead man, you can't leave this flat! I'm sorry, but you'll just have to let him go, leave him to cool off..."

Gritting his teeth and setting his jaw, Fred let out a frustrated breath before conceding, "Alright, I won't go," He finally managed to pull his arm from Estella's grip, maybe a little harsher than necessary.

"I'm sorry, Fred. George'll come back, I know he will. He just needs time," She tried to give a smile of encouragement but she knew it was falling flat.

"Yeah... right... course!" He tried to hide his frustration behind optimism, "Erm... I think I'm just going to see what Amy's up to..."

"Wait, Fred, maybe we should talk?" But before a reply could be given, Amy's bedroom clicked open and then shut and Fred was gone.

In a semi conscious state, Estella wondered if George _would _come back. She reasoned that he _had_ to; it was his shop and technically it was still his flat. She protested against her own mind that he _would_ because George wouldn't miss this kind of opportunity for anything, no matter how mad he was at Estella. It was still Fred and George would want to celebrate the return of his brother. He'd relish in it.

Her stomach took a turn as she also speculated on how many other people, family and friends, that she'd no doubt hurt or upset or make angry in her somewhat spontaneous actions.

Feeling like the weight of the world was on her shoulders, Estella collapsed back onto the couch. Curling up into the foetal position as tightly as she could, her last thoughts were that of Fred and how she couldn't ever remember feeling like she'd disappointed him until now before the world around her fell away.

_**FrederickWeasley**_

What felt like mere moments later, Estella awoke. Still curled up tight, she was more rested than she had been in days and she opened her eyes to see Amy sat on the living room floor playing quietly with her miniature Hogwarts set.

"Y'alright, Amy?" She smiled wearily at Amy.

"Yeah," She replied simply, turning back to her toys.

"Where's your dad?" She hoped that he'd had enough time to recover from the earlier confrontation and hadn't gone running off whilst she was sleeping.

"With Unc at the table..."

Estella nodded sleepily, "George... okay..." Slowly her eyes widened in recognition, "Oh my God, George! You came back!" She sat up so fast that her head started to spin. She got up from the couch and made her way over to the table where, as she had been told, Fred and George sat with a glass of firewhiskey each, "When did you get back?"

"About an hour ago..." George shrugged unsure.

"And you didn't think to wake me?" She clipped Fred's shoulder lightly.

"Oh, that's right, hit the injured," He smirked at her.

"The injured?" And then she noticed the bag of frozen peas he was holding to his jaw, "What happened?" She tenderly pulled away the bag to see the damage; Fred's jaw line was bright red.

"I may have punched him for dying," George smiled innocently at Estella.

"Clearly not one of your better ideas," She sighed, sitting across from George at the table, "Please tell me that Amy didn't see?"

"Oh course she didn't!" Fred exclaimed.

"She was safe in her bedroom," George added.

"Right..." She nodded, relieved, "So I slept through you brawling in the living room?"

"It wasn't a brawl, just one punch," George explained.

"But yes, you did sleep through it," said Fred.

"And... you're okay?" She looked pointedly at George first before saying, "You're both okay?"

"Well... you know... nothing that a bit of firewhiskey isn't helping with," George lifted his half filled tumbler glass and downed the contents in one.

"George..." She cocked an eyebrow at him, "What made you come back?"

"I guess... I felt a little guilty after before. I was _hasty_ to say the least and I wanted to apologize."

"So, you punched him? You need to work on those apologizing skills," Estella replied.

"Ah, yeah, that came after the apology. And then I apologized again," He smiled.

"I should think so."

"Hey, he's not the only one to hit me, remember?" Fred interrupted.

"Huh?" George mumbled.

"I slapped him."

"Oh... _why_?"

"For," She looked over her shoulder to see that Amy wasn't paying attention to them, "_dying_."

"Oh!" George nodded, "Then, _ditto_."

"Remind me never to do that 'dying thing' again," Fred grumbled.

They were silent for a moment before Estella sighed, "So, I guess I'd better tell you what I did to bring him back then, huh?"

"It'd be helpful, yeah."

"Okay, well-"

"Wait!" George stretched across the table to the bottle of firewhiskey and topped up his glass, "I have a feeling I may need it. Go on..." He gestured for her to continue and after a deep intake of breath, she did.

She told him everything; that she'd found an old journal and read it, in which was the incantation needed to bring someone back from the dead by the means of the Veil. The next morning she had rushed into the Ministry and as soon as she'd had chance she'd gone into the Death Chamber and performed the spell.

However, she'd believed it hadn't worked and left, deciding that was the end of it all. She wasn't going to research anymore, it was too heart wrenching. And then that night, after she'd gone to bed, she'd heard a bang and there he was, Fred, in her front room.

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you, George, but you must realise now that I barely gave myself time to think before I blundered in a did it," She finished.

"Is that it?" George asked in disbelief.

"Well... yes, I suppose..." She frowned.

"Blimey," He flopped back into his chair, "I thought you were gonna tell me that you had to jump in there after him, not just perform some spell."

"That's what I thought I was gonna have to do!" She joked.

"So, you brought him back!" George shared a smile back and forth between Fred and Estella. Estella nodded slowly, "Estella Jones, I always knew you were a bloody genius!" And he stood up, walked around the table to Es and pulled her into a big bear hug, "I don't think I'll ever be able to thank you enough."

"Consider it a thank you for everything you've done for me over the last few years," When they pulled apart she nodded towards Amy, "I don't think I could've done it without you."

"Speaking of," Fred peeped in, also standing up and standing beside the two, "I believe I have a lot to thank you for... Looking after them both, Es and Amy."

"You don't have to thank me, Fred, anytime," And the brothers shared an unsteady but firm and familiar hug too.

"Mum...?" Amy's voice broke through the tender moment.

"Yes, darling?" She spun around to find Amy at her feet.

"I'm hungry..." Estella laughed.

"How come you only ever seem to talk to me when you're hungry, hmm?"

"Dunno... Unc burns everything and Gran's not here, is she?" Amy smiled sweetly up at her family.

Laughing once more, Estella said, "Fair enough, what do you want to eat?"

"Tell you what," George wrapped an arm around Es' shoulder before Amy could respond, "How about I go to the Leaky Cauldron and get some fish and chips, eh? Sound good?" Amy's grin was confirmation enough.

"Oh, thank Merlin, I'm starving too," Fred moaned, as did his tummy.

"Right then, I'll be back in about half an hour and I'll find Angie while I'm at it, she'll want to know the big news," Estella started at the mention of Angelina.

"What? George, no, you can't," She followed him to the front door, "No one can know about this yet! There are so many people that need to be told first; you're parents, you're siblings, the whole wizarding world... The Ministry! Oh God, Kingsley Shacklebolt's gonna murder me!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Fred was suddenly in front of her, hands on her shoulders firmly, "It's gonna be fine! It'll all work out. Angelina knowing isn't going to do any harm, is it?"

"Yeah, and I can't exactly keep something this huge from her. I want to see me wedding day, thank you very much," George added.

Looking between the two she had to concede with the pair, "Alright... but just Angie! No one else, not yet!"

George grinned, "Great! I'll be back in about half an hour, okay?" Fred and Estella nodded and George left.

Fred tugged on her shoulders and before she could object, she was wrapped in his arms, his chin resting on her head and her ears against his firm chest, "It's gonna be okay, Es. We'll work it out, together," He kissed the crown of her head.

"It'd better be."

_**FrederickWeasley**_

As planned, George had returned to the flat a half hour later with Angelina in toe. Apparently he'd explained some of the story along the way because as soon as she'd seen Fred she'd jumped him into a hug. It's was better than another slap, Estella reasoned.

They, Estella, Fred, Amy, George and Angelina, had all enjoyed their lunch together and it was almost like Fred had never been away. They celebrated him being back, George and Angelina getting married and George made a particular point of showing how ecstatic he was that Fred was going to be at his wedding after all, as best man of course.

Fred had no choice but to agree, not that he would have opposed to the position.

Before they knew it, it was well into the evening and after an hour of being alone, with Amy tucked up in bed, George and Angelina had floo-ed home leaving just Fred and Estella.

"Well, it's certainly been a long day," Fred commented.

"I've had shorter," She smiled over her shoulder from the kitchen sink.

"When were you thinking of going to bed?" He asked casually.

"Oh," She paused to think, "Well... I was thinking maybe I should sleep on the couch tonight, you know?"

"No, I don't," She could hear him frowning as he approached her in the kitchen, "Is something wrong?"

"Not wrong... I just... You've only just come back and I've had a bed all to myself for a long time and I think it's gonna take a while before I'm ready to sleep in the same bed as someone else again. I don't want to rush things. I hope you don't think I'm being silly."

As much as he wanted to say that he really wished he could just cuddle up next to her and be like they were before the battle, Fred didn't want to upset her and so he replied, "It's fine, don't worry about it."

"Thank you," She smiled gratefully at him, "I'm just gonna go into the attic to get some blankets."

Ten minutes later she was crawling back down the ladder from the attic with a box in her hand, having already chucked a spare duvet down that Fred had moved to the couch.

"Bloody hell, you wouldn't believe how much stuff is up there..."

She sat on the couch beside him and placed the box on the floor.

"Oh, yeah? What did you find?" He craned his neck in an attempt to peak in the over filled boxes.

"Well, I thought that you may want something more comfortable to sleep in, so I dug these out," Out she pulled a t-shirt and pyjama bottoms; More precisely Fred's pyjamas.

"You still have all this?" He raised a brow at her and Estella shrugged.

"I never had the heart to throw it all away."

"Well, I'm glad, I'll just go and get changed," Fred slipped away into the bedroom, returning a moment later in the pyjamas, "Much better!"

Estella smiled, glad they still fit him.

He sat down again and pointed to a smaller rectangular box amongst the clothes, "What's in there?"

"What? Oh..." She picked it up and said, "I forgot I still had this... Here," She handed it over, "Open it."

He chuckled gleefully, "Ha ha! I wondered where that had got to!" From inside, he took out one of his favourite belongings, his wand, "Where did you get it?"

"George found it amongst the rubble after... well... you know where. He didn't want it to get stolen or broken so he kept hold of it."

"Brilliant," A goofy grin filled his face as he pointed it at Es.

"No! Fred, don't you da-" She had bubblegum pink hair before she could object any further.

"Oh, yes! I've still got it," He pulled out his tongue and she checked her reflection in the mirror.

"You've made me look like Tonks!" She smiled sadly at the thought.

"Here," He flicked his wand at her again and her brown tresses returned.

"Thank you... but don't think I'll forget that," She smirked daringly.

"Bring it on!" He smirked right back.

For a few minutes they continued to go through the small box of clothes.

"I'll get the rest down tomorrow," Estella explained.

"No hurry, eh? There's enough here for a couple of days anyway."

"Okay. I'm just going to get changed in to something to sleep in."

Within five minutes she was curled up on the couch and Fred was preparing to go to bed.

"Are you sure you don't want me to sleep on the couch, I don't mind, really," He frowned, still a little miffed.

"No, it's fine, honestly. Anyway, I slept fine on here earlier, it's rather comfy actually," She gave a reassuring curve of the lips.

"If you insist," He bent down beside her and kissed her forehead, "I'll see you in the morning."

"You bet you will."

And he was gone.

Estella tossed and turned. All she could think about was how the night before had been so different. She'd slept on the couch but he had been there with his arms around her tight and warm. She tried to wrap her own arms around herself but it was no use. No matter what she did, she couldn't get comfortable and she certainly wasn't anywhere near sleepy despite how tired she was.

So she did the only thing she could think of.

Padding her way down the hall, she croaked the bedroom door open to see Fred lying on his side, eyes shut and looking as peaceful as a baby.

"Fred? Are you still awake?" She whispered, kind of hoping that he wasn't and that she could creep in without him noticing.

He didn't budge as she made her way across the room, lifted a smidge of the duvet and curled up underneath, her back to him.

And when his arm silently wrapped around her waist and his lips grazed her bare shoulder, just next to her camisole strap, she sighed with content and fell fast asleep.

**A.N. Been a while, huh? It took me a while for me to work out how I wanted this to go and then last night it all sort of just came to me so I wrote it and here it is. **

**Also, I'm **_**considering**_** righting companion one-shots to this story; things like Fred and Es at school and before war etc. So keep a look out for those.**

**I hope it is sufficient! **

**Thoughts, please?**

**Happy reading,**

**Jessica.**


	15. Thirteen

**Gone but Not Forgotten**

_Chapter 13_

_3__rd__ June 2002_

With a quiet pop, Estella appeared in the slushy reeds of the Burrow.

She looked up immediately at the tall, rickety building and smiled at its familiarity. Today was the day she would be telling Molly and Arthur and their children - sans George who was at the flat with Fred, Amy and Angelina - that she'd brought their son or brother back to the world of the living.

She was petrified.

The day before had been bad enough. She'd decided to tell the officials first which meant arranging an emergency meeting with Kingsley Shacklebolt. She'd expected a rollicking. She'd expected to lose her job and be banished from the wizarding world with her wand snapped before her very eyes right there and then. She had expected to be sent to Azkaban with the key thrown away.

But instead, Kingsley Shacklebolt had looked Estella straight in the eye, dug deep into his desk drawer, produced a bottle of firewhiskey, and congratulated her on her 'fine achievements'. She nearly cried with relief.

Mr Shacklebolt had told her that a Healer would be sent to the flat to give Fred the once over and once it was complete and he was given a complete clean bill of health he was free to re-enter the world. He said that he thought it best for an official statement to be made, by him, to reassure that Fred's living-state was all good and well and no one was to worry or be scared.

However, he did demand that the journal with the spell inside be destroyed and that Estella never reveal the true incantation to anyone _ever_,an instruction that he would relay to the public so they would know that trying to find the spell would be fruitless and Fred would be the only one to be brought back.

Estella had agreed to his terms and had _Incendio_'d the book as soon as she had gotten home. She requested that Kingsley wait to reveal Fred's resurrection until she had told the Weasley family herself. She was to owl him as soon as she had done so.

So now, she was here. At the Burrow.

She'd owled Molly once she had gotten home from the Ministry, asking if she could have it arranged that everyone gathered for an urgent meeting as she had an awfully important announcement to make. Whilst she had at first been surprised, having no idea what kind of announcement it would be, Molly had of course agreed to the opportunity of getting the family together, ensuring Estella that everyone would be there including Charlie who would be arriving from Romania by Portkey.

Estella wasted as much time as she could as she strolled up to the Burrow and waved to Molly when she caught sight of her, shouting everyone to the table loud enough that people in the next village could have heard.

The door was open to let in the fresh 'new summer' breeze and she stepped in to the kitchen warily, "Hello, everyone, thank you for coming at such short notice."

_**FrederickWeasley**_

Meanwhile, Fred was sat on his living room floor, looking up to the couch where Amy had fallen asleep listening to him read _The Wizard and the Hopping Pot_ to her.

He got up quietly and joined George and Angelina at the table where a cup of tea was waiting for him, courtesy of Angelina.

"Thanks," He muttered as he took a sip.

They were quiet as Fred continued over the battle that had erupted in his head when Estella had left; Should he be more worried about his mother and father finding out whether he was alive after four years of not being so, or should he be more concerned with the matter that was his relationship and what it really was anymore?

To be fair, he was pretty troubled over both but he was also pretty sure that his mother would be over the moon (he hoped) with his revival and decided to concentrate on him and Estella instead.

He soon learnt however that George had never lost the ability to read him like a book when his twin spoke up.

"You know she still loves you like mad, don't you?"

"Yeah, I know... But, what are we?"

"Erm... Well, I'm George, this is Ang-" George started but Fred shook his head and laughed.

"No! What are Es and I? We were getting married and then I died so does that mean we're still engaged or are we even in a relationship... I'm confused."

"Really? Hadn't noticed," Angie muttered and then added, "You need to calm down. Why haven't you just asked her?"

"There's been the more pressing matter of telling everyone that I'm back from the dead first," He answered deadpanned.

"Right but surely you've had times when the matter could have been addressed?" She pressed.

"I guess, but we've just been keeping conversation casual, talking about the family and what's been going on without me..."

"Well, have you got any ideas as to ways you could approach the subject...?" George asked.

"I don't know if there is any point in planning it, you know I always mess up those kind of plans, I barely got asking her out on a date in sixth year, right, remember?"

"I can't believe you took her to Puddifoot's..." Angelina sniggered.

"It was his idea!" Fred pointed at George.

"It was your date!" George argued back.

"Pathetic..." Angelina smirked. "So, you won't plan it, so to speak, but you could arrange some outlining details, just be safe."

"Yeah, but don't forget that it's her birthday next week. Maybe you should get something sorted before then?" George added.

Fred paused for a minute then smiled, "Her birthday, you say?"

_**FrederickWeasley**_

Estella sat patiently as she watched the long winded piece of news digest over each and every face in the room.

Harry looked like he understood and was focusing his attention on Ginny, who Estella thought looked like she'd had a few too many firewhisky's, drunk with confusion. Hermione was giving Estella an expectant glare and she knew she'd have some explaining and apologizing to do for not telling her what the continued research had included, while Ron looked a little puzzled.

Percy was looking into his lap with his hands to his temples while Charlie's eyes were widened as were Bill's, Fleur's hand wrapped tight around his.

One thing she could say about every single one of them though, was that they looked like they were stuck in an unsure but definite smile.

Finally Estella's gaze landed on Molly and Arthur who seemed to be having a private conversation with mere stares directed at one another.

Blinking once, and then twice, Molly finally looked at Estella, determined, "Well, you'd better take us to see him then, hadn't you?"

_**FrederickWeasley**_

The door to the flat opened quietly and three heads turned to Estella in anticipation.

Fred stood and walked over to her, taking in her still and emotionless expression, "Well? How did it go?"

"Ahh..." She stuttered and then looked with a straight face at the couple still at the table, "George, Ang, could you go down into the shop for a minute?"

Swallowing thickly, George nodded and taking Angelina's hand he said, "Sure..." The door clicking shut behind them.

"So?" Fred urged.

Dipping her head, Estella muttered, "I need water," And she dashed around Fred to the sink and poured herself a glass.

"Es? Come on!" Fred demanded, agitated.

"Well, I went to speak to your family... Everyone was there. I told them what I'd done and I told them that you were here," She explained, calmly.

"And what did they say?" He pushed.

She gulped, "Not much."

Placing the glass down slowly, Estella stepped forward and slipped her hand comfortable into Fred's, the beginnings of a grin escalating.

She headed to the door with their hands still clasped and instructed, "Close your eyes," He raised an eyebrow, "Trust me," She insisted.

"Like I wouldn't?" He replied before complying and pulling his eyelids shut.

"Keep hold of my hand," She said and Fred heard the door open and followed her when he felt a tug to move forward.

After three or four steps her hand left his only to be replaced on his shoulders and she pushed him forward to the balcony above the shop, where everything of the shop could be seen.

"You can open them," Estella granted.

He opened them quickly to find _everyone_ stood in the middle of the shop looking up at him in awe.

He beamed down at them briefly kissing Estella's forehead and dashing down the spiral staircase and heading straight for his mum.

"Oh, my boy," Molly muttered before his arms wrapped around her short, plump frame.

"I missed you, mum."

**A.N. Not my favourite chapter and its a little on the short side but here it is!**

**Only a couple of chapters left (2? Maybe 3?) now which will see Estella and Fred tie up the loose ends and sieve through the finer details of their relationship and of course give them (and Amelia, of course) their happily ever after.**

**Thoughts, please?**

**Happy Reading,**

**Jessica.**


	16. Fourteen

**Gone but Not Forgotten**

_Chapter 14_

_14__th__ June 2002_

A routine had discreetly been set in the week or more that Fred been back.

Things were certainly different between Fred and Estella but four years apart would do that to any couple and they were slowly making progress, settling into something similar to what they had once had.

However she couldn't yet call it quite perfect. Estella had had to keep her cool a number of times when Fred had allowed Amy to do something – like eat sweets before dinner, for example – that she wouldn't allow but he was slowly learning the ropes of parenthood and he was beyond capable of disciplining his daughter. Fred was the dad that Estella had always imagined him to be; a bloody good one.

And Amy was most definitely becoming a real daddy's girl. She was more than happy to have her family together at last and Estella would hazard a guess that Amy had Fred wrapped firmly around her little finger.

The Sunday past had been the first lunch at the Burrow that Fred had been back for.

Estella had feared awkward silences and sideward glances but as soon as they were through the door Fred hadn't allowed time for any.

He joked with his Dad, brothers and Harry, he teased Ginny some and he helped his mum to lay the table. He was a hit with the kids too; Amy had proudly gathered Teddy and Victoire in Ginny's old room and introduced him to them.

Estella turned in her bed and sighed herself awake, opening her eyes to a head of red.

It was odd and would sound obsessive to any normal person but watching Fred was somewhat therapeutic for Estella. It was a reality check and helped her to settle in the morning to know that he was really there and it wasn't just some insane dream. Although, dream or no dream, it was a bit insane either way.

"It's rude to stare," A mumble noted, ceasing Estella's contemplations. She laughed. "Morning, love," He added, wrapping an arm over and around her midriff, tugging her closer to him.

"Good morning."

"And may I be the first to wish you a very happy birthday," He grinned at her.

"Eh?" Estella frowned, "Its not m-" She paused remembering that the day before had indeed been the thirteenth making it the fourteenth that morning and therefore it was most definitely her birthday, her twenty-fourth, "Oh, so it is."

"Well, don't get too excited," Fred commented sarcastically.

"Forgive me; after twenty-three others they become a little dull," She reasoned.

"Oh come on! Birthday's are only supposed to be a nightmare when you turn forty and you don't want people to know that you're _that_ old," He chuckled. She shrugged. "Listen, today is going to be the best birthday you've ever had."

"Oh, yeah?" Estella's brow rose.

"Yep," His lips popped, "I've got it all planned," He said, nodding profusely against his pillow.

A tiny knock on the bedroom door interrupted them, "Mum? Dad?" A tiny head peaking around the door followed.

"Hiya, baby," Estella smiled at her and both her and Fred sat up against the pillows.

Amy took that as signal and ran into the room, clambered up onto the big bed and placed herself on top of the duvet smack bang in the middle of her parents.

"Y'alright, Ames?" Fred asked first, pushing back some of her un-brushed auburn hair.

"Yeah," She grinned toothily at him before holding a piece of parchment out towards Estella, "Happy birthday, Mummy!"

Estella gasped, "And how did you know about that?" She glanced at a sheepish Fred.

Intrigued, Estella took the sheet of paper and found her self looking at several splodges of brightly coloured paint with the words, _'Happy Birthday, Mummy,'_ written in Fred's handwriting along the bottom.

"Wow, this is lovely! Did you make it?"

"Yeah. That's me," She pointed to a little blue stickman and then to a large green one, "That's Dad and that's you!" Her finger landed on the middle sized, red coloured stick man (or woman, rather), "Dad added the fireworks," A puddle of glitter exploded repeatedly across the page, enchanted to appear like fireworks in the sky.

"Oh, Amy, I love it. Thank you, sweetheart," She kissed the little girl's head tenderly.

"That's okay," She smiled and turned to Fred, "Can I have breakfast now?"

Fred laughed, "Course you can, what would you like?"

"Eggs?"

"Coming right up," Fred conceded and they watched as Amy ran out of the bedroom.

"Best day ever?" Estella said as she crawled out of bed and slipped on some slippers, "Feels like any other to me."

Before she could leave the room, Fred was stood in front of her, his hair all askew.

"Yes?" She said expectantly.

And right there, he snogged her like both their lives depended on it and Estella lost all comprehensive thought, stunned and compelled to comply. She knew the need for air would come soon but she hoped that it would take its sweet time, she was enjoying this too much.

He pulled away all too soon however.

"Happy birthday, love."

He disappeared from the room before she could comment.

Once all normal brain functions had returned, she followed him into the kitchen and was not surprised to see him looking very smug indeed and it took a lot for her not to pin him to the fridge and kiss him once more. She pinned Amy's painting to the fridge instead.

She took a seat at the table with Amy as he fumbled around the kitchen and attempted to cook breakfast. He visibly relaxed when Molly and Arthur flooed in and to the rescue.

"Morning everybody," Molly and Arthur greeted each of them individually with a hug and a kiss to the cheek.

Molly pushed Fred away from the hob and insisted she take over whilst Arthur spoke to Estella, "Happy birthday, dear."

"Thank you, Arthur," She replied, politely.

"Oh yes, here you are," From a large shopper bag Molly produced a cake box, "Freshly baked this morning; Chocolate, your favourite."

"Oh Molly, you really didn't have to," But Estella mouth watered as the box was opened and the classic chocolate-y smell filled the air.

"Well, if you don't want it," Fred and Amy's hands crept towards the inch thick icing but Estella slapped them away with lightning fast reactions.

Molly and Arthur sniggered.

"My birthday, my cake," She stuck her tongue out playfully at them, "Thank you, Molly, it looks delicious. I'll enjoy it later."

"Fantastic," Molly smiled, satisfied, "So, breakfast?"

"Yes, please," Fred encouraged, "That oven is evil."

"Of course it is, dear," Molly cooed teasingly, "And once you've all eaten we can get Amelia ready for staying at the Burrow tonight."

"Yay!" Amy cheered.

"Wait, what? She's sleeping over?" Estella looked back and forth between Fred, Molly and Arthur.

"I organised for Amy to stay at Mum and Dad's tonight," Fred replied quickly, "I told you, I've got it all planned."

"But you never told me what _'it'_ was," She mumbled to herself and looked at Amy who she could see was hoping that she would be allowed to go, "I suppose since it's all planned though, that I'll just have to let you go then, won't I?" Fred looked triumphant once more and leaned across the table to kiss her on the forehead.

He kept his lips there as he said, "You won't regret it," And winked at her.

Somehow she knew that she wouldn't regret it too, even if she didn't know what _it_ was.

_**FrederickWeasley**_

Hours later found Estella and Fred in Florean's eating the biggest ice creams that Fred could buy after he had taken Estella on a huge birthday shopping trip.

Estella considered her vanilla ice cream with white chocolate and raspberry swirls before deciding it was best to work top to bottom and licked the pointed it top clean off.

"Wow, it's lush!" Estella gushed, still mouth full.

Fred wiped away a smudge of ice cream from the corner of her mouth and licked it from his finger, "Hmm, yeah it is," He offered her his, "Wanna try this?"

Estella ran her finger along Fred's ice cream and her mouth filled with strawberries and caramel.

"Oh, yummy," She grinned.

They were comfortable in their own silence, chomping on their desserts for a few minutes before Estella said, "I'm going to quit my job at the Ministry."

Fred eyed her evenly, "How come?"

"I guess now I've got you back, I've done everything I could with the job. It's not exciting or interesting for me anymore."

"That's fair. Do whatever you like, love, as long as you're happy," They shared a soft look and Estella felt warm inside, "What would you do instead?"

"Well, I still do my bit at the shop but otherwise, I don't know. I could go work in the pub," She suggested.

"Like the summer after sixth year?" He chuckled

"Yep. Tom said I was his best barmaid. He let me come back the next summer too, do you remember?"

"I do, free butterbeer," He reminisced, "You could ask him, I bet he'd love to have you back," He encouraged.

"He's not there anymore; I'd have to speak to Neville instead."

Fred nearly choked on the last bit of his ice cream, "Neville? Neville owns the pub?"

"Him and his wife, Hannah," Estella nodded, "Hannah runs it mostly. He's only there a few nights a week and the school holidays. He's the Herbology professor at Hogwarts."

"Nice one, Nev," Fred commented impressed, "So, are you going to ask them?"

"Maybe," She shrugged, "You know though..."

"What?" He urged.

"I've always loved this place."

"You want to work here? The ice cream shop?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"You never know, maybe you could own it one day, run the place," He grinned as the idea went over in his head.

"Run it into the ground more like and then people would blame me for ruining the best ice cream shop in the entire wizarding world."

"Give over. You'd be great and it'd be a bit of a change from a desk in the Ministry," He argued lightly.

"Maybe so," She agreed, "But they're not even looking for a new manager."

"I'm sure you'd find a way there somehow," He checked his watch quickly, "Blimey, we're running late, Hermione and Ginny will be wondering where we've gone."

Fred grabbed Estella's hand and dragged her back to the flat before she could even ask what the bloody hell he was wittering on about.

_**FrederickWeasley**_

"There you are!" Hermione sighed in relief from the couch, "We flooed in and found the flat empty. We thought you might have forgotten but George said you'd gone running off for the day.

"Lost track of time, sorry," Fred explained, briefly kissing his sister and sister-in-law-to-be on the cheek in greeting. Estella did the same, slightly confused.

"What's going on?" She asked them both as Fred took off towards the bedroom with the shopping bags.

"Fred asked us to come and help you get ready. Fleur is coming soon," Ginny explained.

"Fleur? I only asked you two" He said, appearing back in the living from.

"We know," Hermione replied, "But she's a whiz at hair-do's."

"She is. She did mine when I got married," Ginny added.

"Why is Fleur coming to do my hair?" Estella asked quickly.

"Because, light of my life," Fred addressed, "Hermione and Ginny... and Fleur... are going to pamper and preen you and help you get ready for tonight," He explained, all too vaguely for Estella's liking.

"Tonight? What's tonight?" She exasperated.

"I'm taking you out," He replied proudly and before she could refuse he said to the others, "I'll let you two take over from here. See you in a couple of hours," And the door shut loudly with his exit.

Simultaneously, Fleur appeared in front of the fireplace, as serene as always despite a fairly large baby bump latching on to her, "Are we ready to be glamorous?"

'_In for a knut, in for a galleon.'_

_**FrederickWeasley**_

"Alright, alright, I sat in that bath for at least twenty minutes and I am on the verge of pruning," Estella declared as she came out of the bathroom in a robe with a towel on her head, "What are you going to force on me next?"

"Come, come, come," Fleur uttered immediately, ushering her to a dining chair that had been moved to the middle of the living room in front of a not-there-before vanity desk.

"What the...?"

"Ginny is going to do your make up," Hermione explained before Estella could say anything else.

"Hermione ees going to do your nails," Fleur added.

"And Fleur is going to do your hair before we all raid your wardrobe and find you something to wear," Ginny finished.

"Good luck," Estella grumbled.

"We are going to need eet," Fleur grumbled back, pulling the towel from Estella's head and inspecting each and every strand of her hair, "These dead-ends," She tutted, "Eet ees a good job I am 'ere."

The four girls laughed as Hermione, Ginny and Fleur all set to work.

"So, are any of you going to tell me where I'm actually going tonight?" Estella asked in rare window of silence.

"You're going on a date," Hermione replied cryptically as she concentrated on running a file along Estella finger nail.

"To where?" She pushed.

"Somewhere..." Ginny answered just as loosely, her head in a makeup case.

"Fred insisted we keep quiet about eet," Fleur said somewhat sympathetically, "Eet ees worth zee wait."

"So you do know what I'm supposed to be getting all prim and proper for?" She surmised.

"We do," Ginny answered, her voice going high in excitement.

"Oh, just tell m- ow! Fleur!" Estella shrieked as her scalp was nearly ripped from her head – that's what it felt like anyway.

"_Mauviette!_ Keep still!"

"Easy Fleur," Hermione soothed, "I don't think Fred would take too well to having a fiancée with no head."

"Fiancée? Is that what he's calling me?" Estella muttered, a little sceptical.

"Well, _obviously_," Hermione said first.

"He did propose to you before he, you know..." Ginny quietened before adding, "What else is going to call you?"

"I don't know. Does it still count if he... I mean he..." Fleur interrupted Estella's stutters.

"But now he ees not. And he looks at you just as, eef not more, een love with you than ever. And he still wants to marry you. You still want to marry him, no? You still wear zee ring he gave you?" Estella nodded quickly, certain, "Well then, everything will be okay and what will be will be, okay?" Estella nodded again but slower.

"Okay."

"Right then," Hermione's chirpy voice erupted through the silence that had appeared, "What colour, Cherry Black or Midnight Purple?" She held up the two bottles to choose from.

"You choose," Estella sniggered, trying to recover from the rather depressing turn that the conversation had taken.

"Cherry it is then."

_**FrederickWeasley**_

"Blimey," Estella would have paled if it wasn't for the immaculate make-up disguising so, "What have you _done_ to me?"

She repeatedly looked up and down at her reflection in the mirror; it's was a simple little black dress that hugged her middle with an empire line, showing off her curves (she hadn't known that she had some) and tulle skirt coming to just above her knee. Her hair was curled for what must have been the first time in a decade and had been pulled up into a delicate up-do with strands pulled out to frame her face.

"_Magnifique! _You like, non?" Fleur smirked, sitting on the edge of Estella's bed and admiring what a few charms could accomplish.

"Fred's going to go insane," Ginny gushed.

"He'd better had," Estella replied boldly.

"You look amazing, well done ladies," Hermione grinned proudly.

"Is it safe to come in?" Fred's loud voice boomed into the flat.

"Just a minute!" Ginny should back, "We'd better go," She said to Hermione and Fleur.

They all returned to the living room where Fred was nowhere to be seen. They guessed he was on the balcony in the shop.

"Have a good night," Hermione insisted, "We're sure you will," And then she disappeared into the floo.

Ginny followed, "Remember to let us know how it goes."

"I will," And with a wink, it was just Estella and Fleur.

Fleur shrunk the vanity desk down to portable size, whisking it into her purse and enchanted the chair to return to the dining table with her wand, "Don't forget what I said. What will be, will be," She smiled and kissed Estella on each cheek, "Have fun!" And she disappeared.

"You can come in now," She called and the front door opened with a bouquet of flowers entering first and then a suited and booted Fred.

"Woah..." Was all he said as his eyes roved over her hair and dress and legs. He'd always been a leg man.

"Is this appropriate for my mysterious outing?" She blushed slightly as his eyes continued to appreciate her every curve whilst approaching her.

"Absolutely," He smiled warmly at her, finally looking her in the eye, "You look absolutely, undeniably, delectable."

"Alright, I'm not that good," She scoffed honestly, "Are those for me?" She pointed at the white lilies and red roses.

"They are, happy birthday," He kissed her cheek longingly and she took the flowers, quickly summoning a vase and filling it with water for them.

Once done she let him lead her out of the flat, through the shop and into Diagon Alley once more, their arms linked, "So, where are you taking me? Surely you can tell me now?"

"You'll see," He teased, "Hold on," And they apparated, a split second later landing in a well lit back street.

"Where are we?" She looked around and then spotted a very familiar castle in the distance and realised, "Hogsmeade?"

"Yep. The very place. Come on," She slipped their hands together and led the way once more, "Do you remember when we first started dating," He said once he found the main street. Estella recognised that they were heading for the outskirts. "We walked around here one weekend and we walked so far that we nearly ended up in the next village."

She nodded, remembering, "We found that derelict cafe and you said that Madam Puddifoot should go there and take some lessons into making real tea."

He chuckled, "Well that is where we are going. Since the war it's been bought and transformed into a very high market restaurant. The Daily Prophet raved about it," He explained.

"Really? Wow," She smiled.

"You, my dear, are about to eat some of the best food you've ever had the chance to eat," He gushed, the cafe – or the restaurant rather – coming into view.

"Better than your Mum's?" She questioned dubiously.

He stopped in his step and said rather seriously, "It better had be for what it's going to cost."

_**FrederickWeasley**_

"That was amazing! Thank you so much!" Estella commended as they left the restaurant a few hours later.

"Not at all. You don't turn twenty-four every day," He smiled, "Didn't I say you'd enjoy yourself today?" She rolled her eyes and then nodded liberally, "Come on, let's go for a walk."

They walked silently hand in hand, heading closer and closer to the shops and the school.

"I wonder what Amy got up to today," Estella mumbled, "I hope her day was as good as mine."

"I bet Mum and Dad had a great day spoiling her and I bet she enjoyed it. Dad'll probably driven her mad with all his muggle gadgets," They tittered, "Don't worry about her, she's perfectly fine and safe at the Burrow."

"I _know_ that. I'm still her Mum. I always worry," She sighed.

"Ditto," Fred countered, "She certainly something, isn't she?"

Estella laughed, "She is. I think it's the genes," She looked indicatively at Fred and poked him gently in the side, smirking.

"Takes two," He smirked back, "Really though. She is an amazing little girl," He stopped in his tracks and pulled Estella to him, resting his hands on her waist, "I'm proud of you, you know?"

"Really?"

"Oh yeah. You've done such a brilliant, beautiful job," He praised passionately.

"I couldn't have done it without you're family. You're parents, you're siblings... George, especially... They've all been amazing," She replied.

"I don't think you give yourself enough credit," He opposed, "I love you."

"I love you too," She replied without a thought.

Fred pulled her left hand up in front of them and let her engagement ring glint in the moonlight.

"When I came back, the first thing I felt was guilt for leaving you behind and not doing what I promised you, which was to marry you and make you my wife. I'll never feel for anyone else like I do for you, you know that, don't you?" He locked his eyes on hers.

Estella nodded silently.

"I still want to marry you, Es. And I would be honoured if you would let me be your husband. Will you? Please?"

Estella wanted to weep. Instead she put her hands to his cheeks.

"Yes – yes – yes," She punctuated each word with a kiss before they melted into one another more passionately than they'd allowed themselves to be the entire time Fred had been back.

After a moment, Estella pulled away just long enough to breathlessly demand, "Take me home."

"As you wish, Mrs Weasley."

Estella shuddered at the thought before they apparated away.

**A.N. Boom! You see this? Longest chapter so far? I think so.**

**Anyway, the next chapter shall be the last... boo! But all good things must come to an end eh?**

**Like Harry Potter.**

**DID YOU SEE THE MOVIE?**

**DID YOU SEE FRED? **

**I cried. Majorly. I still cry if I think about it. I'm weak. BUT FRED! And James and Lily and Remus and Sirius (I'm a major Marauder fan-girl! :D).**

**Anyway.**

**Thoughts, please? Pretty please?**

**Happy reading,**

**Jessica.**

**P.S. This isn't proof read. I wanted to get it out before I went to bed tonight so please excuse any daft mistakes. I shall check it tomorrow.**


	17. Fifteen

**Gone but Not Forgotten**

_Chapter 15_

_August 2003 _

The long kitchen table in the Burrow was filled at every rickety and crooked edge, each of Molly and Arthur Weasley's offspring present and correct, each with their own families gathered and crammed into what was becoming an increasingly small place.

Dessert was served, floating in the air and landing swiftly and neatly in front of them and everyone eagerly tucked in to the juicy lemon tart.

After just two mouthfuls however, Estella gave up.

Today she just didn't feel like eating which was odd considering the whole of her pregnancy had encouraged her to have larger portions whenever she could. The recurring cramp in her side and back didn't help much either.

"Y'alright, love?" Fred asked for not the first time that day and Estella shared a weary smile across the table at each curious face.

"I'm fine."

"You do look a bit peaky, Es," Charlie, recently returned from abroad and planning to work at the Welsh Dragon Reserve, commented over a mouthful of tart.

"I'm fine," She repeated, "Molly, do you mind if I go and sit in the living room for a while? My back is creased."

"Of course, dear, whatever makes you comfortable," The older woman nodded.

"Thanks. Excuse me," She pushed herself up, with some assistance from Fred, and onto her feet. She made to move around the table but Fred gently grabbed her hand and looked up at her.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Estella smiled fondly at his continued attentiveness, took her hand from his and replaced it on his cheek.

"I'm fine. I'll let you know if I need anything, okay?" She awkwardly bent over and kissed the crown of his head.

"You'd better."

"Merlin, you two are getting soppier by the day," George sniggered at the opposite end of the table, earning a slap from Angelina and a series of laughs around the table.

"Don't worry," Estella chuckled as she edged towards the other room, already exhausted, "Once the baby comes, we'll be too tired to be nice to one another."

Once Estella finally made it into the living room, the laughs died down and a simmer of chatter floated in the air.

She lowered herself as carefully as she could into the worn, cushy armchair, sighing into its pillows and closing her eyes.

She'd been uncomfortable and irritable all day but in the presence of company she'd tried to disguise it. Her back had been getting steadily worse over the course of the week but that morning it had been almost unbearable.

The cramps had been coming and going all day but she had just assumed it was the baby sitting in a funny position, probably using her bladder as a cushion, and had avoided saying anything, not wanting to cause alarm.

It was just as she'd gotten comfortable that an increasingly powerful and all consuming twinge soured through her lower abdomen. She ground her teeth and her fingers gnawed at the arms of the chair in her efforts to prevent the much needed scream. Once the enormity of the pains subsided, Estella finally released a breath.

"Fred!" She shouted desperately, "Fred, can you come here please? Now!"

He was by her side in a second, worry etched in every feature, "What? What's wrong?"

She was vaguely aware of the others gathering in the doorway.

"I think the baby is coming."

_**FrederickWeasley**_

"Come on, Es! You're doing brilliantly!"

"This is all your fault, I hope you realise that, Weasley!"

"Yes, dear."

"Mrs Weasley, you need to keep calm."

"_Keep Calm? _I'll give you 'keep calm'!"

"Just ten more seconds and you can push, Mrs Weasley."

"It's alright, love, you can do it!"

"Oh I hate you so much right now!"

"And... _PUSH!_"

"_ARGHHHHH...!_"

A baby's cry filled the room.

"I think you broke my hand."

"Oh, shut up."

_**FrederickWeasley**_

Having announced the new arrival to his awaiting family upstairs, Fred returned to his wife's bedside to find her fast asleep and he wasn't surprised either; he'd be shattered too if he'd just gone through that kind of ordeal. He was proud of her though, so proud.

He wandered over and brushed his lips lightly across her hot head. A whimper from her other side alerted him to the third presence in the room. He looked up at the small cot and made his way closer to it.

He braced his hands on either side of the cot and smiled down at the blue swaddle.

"How's life treating you then, little man?" The baby's eyes fluttered lazily.

"You certainly got the good genes, didn't you? Handsome devil, you are. Your sister managed to pull that trick too," The baby wriggled under the blankets, apparently enamoured by Fred.

"How about that name you've got yourself then, eh? George. Georgie. You and baby Freddie... if your anything like what me and your uncle George were like then I feel sorry for Hogwarts," He chuckled.

Tentatively he lifted a finger and wriggled it against baby George's belly and cooed, "Hello."

In response, George started to fuss.

"Oh, no! Don't do that. No, we don't want to wake up your mum, do we? Come on," Fred slowly slipped his large hands under the tiny baby.

Now, it wasn't like he didn't have experience with babies, it just felt extremely different when it was your own and baby George was _so _new and _so _fragile that Fred was scared that anything he did could break him and Estella would certainly not be impressed if he did that.

Wrapping his arms firmly around the small body, Fred took a place in a lone chair, holding George close to him.

"I've got to say... you and your sister and your mum are certainly some of the best things that have ever happened to me, you know that? Yep. And I might not tell you it enough but I love you all very much and you are all so special to me because there was a time when I couldn't be there and I didn't like it so much."

"I didn't like it so much either," Estella croaked from the bed, slowly pushing herself to sit up in the bed.

Fred looked up sharply and beamed through the flow of tears, "Hey."

"Hey there. How is he?"

Fred stood and replaced himself on the edge of Estella's bed.

"He's brilliant."

"Where's Amy? Is she okay?" Estella asked, quickly aware that she hadn't seen her daughter since lunch.

"She's fine. George and Ang have taken her back to the house to get some clothes and she's going to stay with them, although, she is desperate to see her new brother. I said she could see him tomorrow," He explained softly.

"Okay," She replied, satisfied, "So long as she's safe."

"She is." The baby shuffled seemingly recognising his mother's voice. Fred passed him over and watched as he snuggled into Estella's chest.

Once he was settled, Fred asked, "What made you suggest 'George'?"

Estella looked up, bleary eyed, "Eh?"

"The name? Why 'George'?"

She thought for a minute before saying, "Well, he's your twin. Obviously. And he's my best friend. After everything happened way back when and I was left on my own and with Amy, he was there for me and I couldn't think of a better way of repaying him," She paused, "Why? Do you not like it?"

"No! I do. It's amazing. We, George and I, always said we'd honour each other with our kids names," They both laughed, "I just thought that I'd have to persuade you first rather than having you suggest it."

They shared a blazing look of love and excitement and nerves and total disbelief and shared their first kiss since the birth.

Looking down at her son, thinking of her daughter and smiling with her husband, Estella couldn't believe that this moment had come.

"I love you," She mumbled universally to Fred, baby George and Amelia – wherever she may be.

"Love you too," Fred replied immediately.

George gurgled in between them and they laughed.

"We love you too, bubba," Fred said, "Don't you worry. That's not gonna change anytime soon."

**A.N. Well, my friends, that is it; the last chapter of this story.**

**Thank you so much for the superb support throughout this. I hope you had as much fun reading it as I did writing it and I'll be seeing you all again soon.**

**Happy Reading,**

**Jessica.**


	18. Author Note Possible Rewrite

Hey guys!

So, this story was a much bigger success than I ever thought or could've hoped it would be and you can't know how grateful I was - and still am - for all of you that read and reviewed and favourited with each new chapter.

But I have news.

Going over the story, I have found some issues I have with it. Therefore I am in the midst of considering whether or not to rewrite it. I will leave this version of the story online for now.

If I do rewrite it, I will probably upload it to another fanfiction site (like unknowable room or something) to save confusion and I will let you all know when I do and where I upload it, in case any of you that read this would like to reread it.

Again, thank you so much for all the support I got on this the first time around and please remember a rewrite is not absolutely-positively going to happen, so don't be surprised if it doesn't happen in the end (What can I say? I can be a right little indecisive so and so sometimes! xD).

Hope you are all well,

Jessica!


	19. AN, The Rewrite has begun!

Hey guys!

So, as I last mentioned, I was thinking of doing a rewrite and I can say that the first chapter is now finished and uploaded at harrypotterfanfiction.

It's got the same title on there and my user name on there is FezesAreCool so it shouldn't be too hard to find.

If any of you would prefer me to upload it on here, then let me know and I'll get right to it :)

Reviews over there would be lovely and I hope you all enjoy it. Updates will be, hopefully, every fortnight or so.

Thank you all so much!


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